Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt: Rising From the Ashes
by starofjustice
Summary: Lost has been captured, the Sphere is in ruins, and the evil of the Mythos is beginning to spread to Earth. Liss has her work cut out for her, but soon she'll see just how far her influence has spread, and she'll be more than a little surprised to see how many are willing to help her carry her colossal burden.
1. Chapter 1

**Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt: Rising from the Ashes**

 **Book Six: Forthcoming Influences**

 **Reading Twenty-Six: Dark Marvels**

 **Note: This is a continuation of my story Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt, which obviously assumes you've read the other part with the first 25 chapters. If it's not showing up make sure the box to show M-rated stories is clicked in your account.**

So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…

It seems an eternity ago that delinquent Liss Decker found herself caught between combatants from a strange alternate world called the Sphere, and afterward found herself with the ability to transform into Tarock, a warrior of awesome powers. The mystical being that was the creator of Tarock's powers asked Liss to become a champion for his people, who were being plagued by the reappearance of monstrous beings they call the Mythos. Mainly seeing an escape from her oppressive everyday life, Liss agreed.

Eventually, not entirely by her decision, Liss was joined Ben Corland, her ex-boyfriend who can change into Vaga, a powerful warrior form of his own. They discovered the source of the monsters, a young girl named Lost, and the monsters' controller, the White Lady.

Liss and Ben attempted to find a way to save Lost and keep her from creating anymore monsters, but Lost was kidnapped by the Empress, one of the most powerful of a race of immortals called the Arcana, and who had thought Liss to be a danger since the beginning. The Emprss intended to execute Lost and let her people know the Mythos threat was on its last legs. But instead the White Lady was able to use the state of affairs to stage an invasion of monsters in the Empress's capital city.

By the time the fighting stopped the White Lady had captured Lost and the two of them combined into a single being that escaped to gather its strength. In trying to stop them Liss's face was clawed by the combined monstrosity, leaving her with an artificial eye and lingering scars, more emotional than physical.

She's returned home to recover and plan her next move.

It had better be a masterpiece.

XXX

Liss needed a cigarette.

She hadn't touched them in ages. Not since the day she originally became Tarock. At the time, a giant spider had seemed pretty scary.

Now it was just another monster to obliterate. In spite of all that, she was having a hell of a time, and she wanted a cigarette.

But as she walked past a gas station it struck her that she wasn't a licensed driver and couldn't legally prove her age to someone who might otherwise be willing to sell some to her. And since she'd dropped out of school to become a mystical warrior, she wasn't sure how to get in touch with anybody who'd been willing to buy them for her before.

Besides, she could just forget about that kind of favor from Sensei. If he wouldn't even let her eat fast food, smoking was out of the question.

She sighed and turned a corner back toward his place, supposing she'd have to content herself with an actual hot shower in the tiny bathroom she shared with three other people. The thought of who she lived with back there on Earth made her want it even more. Liss badly needed to spend some time on the world she was used to after everything that had happened on the one her powers came from.

Liss let herself in up the back stairs. She could hear feet slamming into foam mats out in the main room, but wasn't feeling up to joining class at the moment. Instead she made her way up to the living room on the second floor, hung her duster on the hook behind the door and then went into the bathroom and picked up the first bottle of shampoo and bar of soap she saw.

After living rough for so long the steam and hot water washing over Liss were like stepping into another world even stranger than the Sphere. The dirt washing off her body left a black trail on the bottom of the tub Liss was sure she was going to be forced to scrub out later, but right then she didn't care. It seemed ridiculous, but something so simple was helping her feel like she was starting fresh, and maybe her injuries weren't as bad as they seemed. Maybe she really could still find some way to save Lost…

After a few more minutes Liss shut off the shower, wrapped herself in a towel and walked into the living room. As she did she ran right into someone, a black girl with a head covered in dark red finger coils. It took Liss a second to recognize her as Virginia, Angelo's younger daughter.

For another second Virginia stared up into Liss's face, saying nothing. Although whether that was thanks to running into someone just coming out of the shower or the milky white crystal Liss had in place of a left eye, Liss couldn't tell.

The scars across had healed in the days since returning to Earth. The only signs of her last desperate attempt to save Lost were her new eye, the missing tip of her left earlobe and a stream of silver stains on her left arm in the shape of teardrops, which was close enough to what they really were. Virginia stared at her for another second, and Liss knitted her brown in surprise as she realized Virginia was looking at her crystal eye and starting to blush.

"Sorry," Liss said and walked past Virginia and into the little backroom they'd given her. She sank to her knees and opened the foot locker at the foot of her bed and got out a set of clean clothes: jeans, shirt, socks, underwear. Liss dropped her towel and started getting dressed. She was pulling her pants on when she felt eyes on her and saw the door was still a crack open.

"Everything okay?" Liss called over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but, um…you were just gone for so long, we wondered what happened to you," Virginia said, and stepped into the room, looking unfazed at seeing Liss in her bra. "Your sister brought this over," she said, holding up a card with a picture of a brown moth on it. "But then you came home all alone, and…I don't know."

Liss tugged her shirt on. "You were worried about me?"

"Yeah! We all were! Well…me and dad were. And dad wouldn't admit it."

"What wouldn't I admit?" asked the hulking black man who suddenly the entered the room as he shut the door to the stairwell behind him. It was Angelo Bell, Liss's teacher and Virginia's father. "And what do you think you're doing, young lady? I told you to give Liss her space until she was ready to talk."

"It's okay, Sensei. I don't really mind," Liss said. "Maybe you and me can talk tonight about it, though? I could really use your input."

Angelo nodded. "Sure. You'll have to excuse Ginny, she's kind of a fan of yours."

"Dad!" Virginia exclaimed. "I don't want to be called that name anymore!..." Then she looked up at Liss again. "What happened to your eye?"

"Bad guys ripped out my old one," Liss answered. "Scary, huh?"

Virginia shook her head so fast it looked like a red blur. "It's cool!" she gushed, and behind her Angelo groaned.

He touched Virginia on the shoulder. "Hey, you wanted to be in my class, remember? You can't go ditching now that Liss is back because you're hoping she'll tell you about her adventures. Right, Liss?"

"Uh, right."

"There, right from your hero," Angelo said. "So get changed and go downstairs already. I'll be down in a minute."

Virginia sighed. "Okay, dad…" then she slipped into the bedroom she shared with her older sister and shut the door.

"Hey," Angelo said more quietly and came up to rest his palms on Liss's shoulders. "Is everything okay? That stuff you said about your eye, is that true?"

"I'd say the evidence speaks for itself," Liss answered him with a shrug. "It's as close to the truth as I remember, anyway. Mostly I fell then I blacked out after something hit me in the face. Besides, Sensei, you knew this shit about Riders was real before you ever knew me, right? What about Gorgom and the Black Sun, and the bat monster who clawed your shoulder?"

He smiled a little at the question she'd asked him in reply. "You still remember that, huh?"

"I'm kind of trying to learn to appreciate it in a new way since…," Liss pointed to her fake eye, "…this."

Angelo pulled something out of his back pocket and handed it to Liss: an envelope. "Here's a little something…it's not as big as it would've been if you were here and helping teach class more often, but maybe you can go out and enjoy yourself a little now that you're back."

Liss opened the envelope and pulled out a small stack of not-quite-so-small bills. She looked up at Angelo uncertainly, as if she didn't quite believe he should really be giving it to her. He just smiled and patted her on the shoulders in reply. "I know you're fighting inhuman evil and all that, but you're still young, Liss. You ought to enjoy it _some_ times."

"Thanks, Sensei."

"Thank you, Liss," Angelo said, then leaned in to whisper to her, "But Virginia is not going to be your sidekick. Ever. I don't care what she tells you, I didn't agree to that and I never will."

"I wasn't even thinking it."

"Make sure you don't," Angelo said, then patted her on the shoulder and went back down to rejoin his class.

XXX

The tally of the casualties from the Mythos siege of the city slid across Captain Uthar's red-rimmed eyes again. The number of deaths was barely 180, but Uthar still couldn't stop asking himself if that number might have been smaller if the Emperor hadn't still been there, if the engineers had had the corps leaders' equipment ready sooner, or if he had been more alert…

…or if Tarock and that idiot friend of hers had been more concerned with being where they were needed, instead of running all over the Sphere doing who only knew what.

Tarock was supposed to be a mortal champion with power rivalling some of the greatest of the Arcana, wasn't she? Where had she been while people were cowering in their homes at night as Mythos continually threw themselves at the walls with their unending numbers? How many more lives might have been spared in all those attacks?

"Hey," said someone who dropped a large hand onto his shoulder in concern. It was Loi, his over-sized right-hand-man who also liked to imagine himself as Uthar's conscience. "Are you still up? Don't you think maybe you'll be better prepared for what comes next if you're actually rested, _Captain_?"

"I'm just thinking about the losses. Sentos is gone…"

"And that's tragic, but this isn't over, and we have to prepare for the future," Loi reminded him. "You're not going to make it through this without at least one night's sleep."

Uthar sighed and glared weakly over his shoulder at Loi. "Can you try to help me a little, Loi? Can you at least tell me where in the hells Tarock's been while we were trying to keep our people alive?"

"Well, no…"

Uthar pulled away. "As I expected. In that case—"

"…but it so happens I know she's gone back to her own world to recover after a battle that almost levelled Mazones," Loi replied and set a card with the image of a horned beetle on it beside Uthar on the table.

He picked up the card and started at it for a second as if that was how he would learn what secrets it held, then willed a portion of his energy into it and an image appeared in the air above the card. It showed the young man Uthar remembered as Tarock's companion, who'd helped Avalon fight a few Mythos with extreme reluctance and let them study the results in order to create power suits of their own. He'd been in a hurry to let them take what they needed so he could rejoin Tarock. At least it seemed he'd found her…

"I'll keep this short," his image said. "We got into a fight with a whole army of Mythos up here and most of this city was smashed up real good. We were trying to save Lost…she's this girl who's the source of the monsters, but I don't really understand how. The White Lady took her, apparently, and now we don't know where they are.

"Liss is hurt, and she's gone back to our planet to heal before we go after the White Lady again. I'm wrapping up a couple things here before I go with her. She wanted me to make sure you guys down there in Avalon knew what happened, so I'm sending this. No idea what our next move is, but at least I can let you know what happened." Then the image faded out.

Uthar set the card down and then staggered toward his cot in the corner of the room. "Loi, come wake me in a few hours," he said. "Then we'll go and see what Tarock has to say for herself."

XXX

"Well, look who's home."

Ben had been expecting this. His mother was glaring at him from her spot in front of the muted TV, and his father stood in the doorway to their bedroom glaring at Ben in the front door just as hard. His younger brothers peered out from the door to their room, but for a second Mr. Corland shifted his glare to them and their door slammed.

"And just where do you think you've been, mister?" Mrs. Corland demanded.

"I've been saving the world, thank you very much," Ben replied, displaying the wrist with his Vaga Brace.

"Oh, I bet," his mother replied scornfully. "I'm not dumb enough to think those weren't real monsters, but _you_ were the one killing them, huh? More like you were going to dives with that Decker girl again."

"I _was_ with her, actually," Ben replied, clenching his teeth. Why had he even come back here? Because he'd wanted to let his family know he was still alive after all the time he and Liss had spent chasing lead after lead to finding some way to save Lost.

Even if it had all been for nothing.

He didn't completely blame his parents not to be happy to see him again. Ben had left in a hurry and had been on one adventure after another since then. But he'd had to, hadn't he? Mythos had even started showing up in their town, he knew where they were coming from and had been trying to help find a way stop there from being any more.

But he'd really been doing that, and he was proud of it.

"You're right, I was with Liss Decker…let me show you what I was doing. **Change Vaga!** " Green energy ripped from his bracelet and the pile of dishes in the sink crashed onto the floor while the doors and windows rattled in their frames.

Then the energy solidified into gleaming dark green armor on Ben, who stood framed in the front door with waves of power rolling off him like some kind of mythical demigod who'd appeared before them. It only lasted for a second before it flickered away and Ben was standing in Vaga's place, but his parents were staring at him slack-jawed now.

Ben didn't say anything, he just shut the door and walked back down the stairs to the street again, feeling a little ashamed of using his powers just for a display like that. He'd wanted to at least notify his family that he was all right and what he'd been up to, but they'd assumed he was just off being a degenerate. With Liss, an even bigger degenerate.

Maybe they'd relax after a while, but until then Ben supposed he should find Liss, maybe see if she was up to figuring out what they'd do next. He'd been hoping for a break, a chance to enjoy some normality for at least a little while, but…maybe they were in too deep in the weird new world they'd joined when they'd accepted their powers. Maybe they needed to finish up things with the Sphere and the Mythos before they truly could return to the world they left when they became Tarock and Vaga.

Then he spotted a black-haired girl in a long coat coming out of a pawn shop down the block with a guitar case in one hand.

He jogged closer. "Liss?" he called out, and when she turned toward him his question was answered. That bulbous white eye couldn't belong to anyone else. "You bought a guitar?" he asked, then smirked. "Or is that a machine gun and you're gonna rob a bank or something?"

"It's a guitar," she answered, and opened the case to show him. Indeed, it was an acoustic guitar. A little scuffed around the sides, but to Ben's untrained eyes at least it looked like a usable instrument.

"You play guitar?" Ben asked, slightly surprised.

"I did for a little while, once," Liss shrugged. "I thought maybe I'd see how bad I really was."

Ben nodded thoughtfully. "I bet you're not that bad."

"You didn't even know I ever played one of these a second ago."

"Can't I just say something nice to you?"

"I…I guess?" Liss said, sounding like he'd caught her by surprise with his question. She closed the case and started up the street.

"Sooooo, why you pickin' up a guitar all of a sudden?" Ben asked, following her.

Liss shrugged. "Sensei gave me some money but not enough for me to buy a brand new one, so I had to get a used one."

"No!" Ben said. "I mean, why now? After you haven't played one in so long I didn't even know about it?"

"I thought I'd…," Liss paused and searched for the right words for a second. "I thought that maybe it'd be good if I had something to do while we weren't fighting. Like learn guitar again."

Ben cocked his head. "While we're not fighting? Huh…so there's stuff you want to do besides fight monsters after all."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Liss said sharply. "We're gonna find the White Lady and we're gonna get Lost back. Soon."

"We?"

"Yeah, 'we'. You saying you're backing out or something?" Liss answered him.

"…no. Of course not," Ben said, smiling a little. "Hey, maybe we can—"

"Liss? Ben?" someone called out to them. The two of them turned and saw a girl a year or so younger than they were. She had on jeans and a windbreaker and her long red hair hung down covering half her face. "It really is you guys? You just disappeared. We thought you skipped town or something."

It was Mallory Quinn, a girl Ben and Liss had seen at a couple wild parties while they'd still been going out. She looked like she hadn't aged at all since then.

"Sort of," Ben answered. "But it was because of those monsters around town."

Mallory looked at them incredulously. "You mean you guys think that stuff was real?"

Liss pointed to her crystal eye. "You think I got this just to piss off my parents? They fricking left town when I warned them about the monsters."

Mallory stared at her. "Seriously? A monster did that to you? That's real?"

"Sure. I'll prove it," Liss said and shut her real eye. Tentatively Mallory walked to her right. Liss moved her head, tracking Mallory easily. She walked to the left, and still Liss followed her even when Mallory stopped suddenly and walked the other way. Mallory jumped and Liss looked up as she rose into the air and then back down as Mallory landed.

"Holy crap, that thing's real," Mallory gaped. "But hey, I wanted to talk to you guys about something else. There's this big concert tonight, out at the old theme park. Some rich guy rebuilt it and he's getting bands from all over to play the opening."

Ben shrugged. "Sounds like the tickets would've been sold out ages ago for something like that."

"It's free to the public. Why don't you guys go? Maybe I'll see you there." Without waiting for them to answer Mallory jogged off, but cast a glance over her shoulder at Liss one last time before she was out of sight.

XXX

Liss opened the door to the roof of the building where Liss lived with Angelo's family, and gently set down the guitar case and opened it, then leaned against the side of the opening of the stairwell and experimentally strummed the strings, trying to get used to the feeling of the instrument again after years away.

And a feet away, Ben watched her intently. Watching as her hands slowly strummed over the taut strings as she listened to how they sounded and then twisted the pegs at the head of the instrument and tested the strings again until she was satisfied with the sound she was making.

"She's out of my life," Liss slowly sang as she picked at her new instrument. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry…I don't know whether to live or die…she's out of my life…"

"Oh god," Ben chortled and Liss looked up at him, annoyed but also questioning. "Sad love songs? C'mon Liss, even you're not that emo. You must know something happier."

"You do, huh?"

"Sure. Let me at that thing," Ben said and held out his hands. Liss gave him a warning look, then handed over her new-old guitar.

"Ahem," Ben coughed and experimentally strummed with his thumbnail. "We took the floor and she said…oh don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me! I said you're holding back, she said shut up and—"

"Give me that back…"

"No, wait. I know a better one, promise. Here we go…Until the very moment, when I see you agaaaaaaain, I'll keep speeding along the road to the sun, the burning sun! Hear the roar of my car, I'm nearly round the bend! Searching for the love that we did shaaaaaare…there's no-one who can stop me now!"

Liss sighed and reached out to grab her guitar away from Ben, but he jumped back. "I promise, I know what I'm doing!" he insisted.

"You do not!"

"Sure I do!" Ben grinned. "Eight-six-seven-five-three-oh—"

"Give me that!" Liss said and grabbed the guitar back from Ben, but she was actually grinning and laughing despite herself. "God, you are being _so_ stupid…"

"It's working," he pointed out with a teasing smile. "I must be good for at least one thing."

"At least you didn't do 'Come on Eileen'," Liss said, then her smile faded. Ben couldn't blame her: the air had suddenly seemed to… _change_ around them. Liss's crystal eye buzzed in its socket and she dropped her guitar with a cry to cover the eye with her hands as if that could somehow muffle the feeling.

Ben knew he should run to her side and make sure she was all right, but at the same tiem it was as if he shouldn't. That he knew it would pass in a second and that whatever had the power to cause this was something to be feared, but not by them. Not yet.

Then suddenly someone else was on the roof. A girl in a plain, faded brown dress and her orange hair dancing for a second on the last breath of a chilly breeze. "Hello, Liss," she said.

"Trideka!" Ben said before Liss could reply.

"What?" Liss asked after she recovered enough to confront the newcomer herself.

"It's her! She was the one in the black cape from back in Mazones!" Ben exclaimed. "Who are you, lady?"

Liss looked at her in disbelief for a second and then walked over to her. "Rexi. It's you."

The girl nodded and smiled faintly. "You remember me after all. Somehow I thought you wouldn't. The great Tarock has the fate of the entire Sphere on her shoulders, after all. And another world as well by the look of things."

Liss sighed and rubbed her face with her hands, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. After collecting herself she looked Rexia in the face and expected her to flinch from the new decorations Liss had picked up on her face. She didn't. "I was trying to save Lost," Liss said, feeling like shrugging but for some reason it feeling inappropriate.

Rexia laughed lightly and took a step closer and gently wrapped her arms around Liss's shoulders. Ben gaped at them as Liss hugged the other girl back, smiling just a little.

But then Rexia asked her, "Is that all you saw, Liss? One person's life in the middle of all that destruction? Soon, Liss, very soon you'll need a much wider perspective than that."

Ben walked over to them and gave Rexia a suspicious look. "Excuse me, who are you again? And what the hell do you know about perspectives?"

Liss glared at him, which was downright chilling with her eyelids narrowing around a huge bead of white crystal. "Ben, don't. She's—"

"It's all right, Liss," Rexia interrupted her. "He and I didn't meet under the friendliest of circumstances and I didn't have a chance to explain myself. I can't really blame him for being suspicious of me." Rexia broke their embrace and faced Ben, handed politely extended. "Hello, Ben. My name's Rexia. Liss and I met while she was staying at my father's house to recover from her injuries. I…I wasn't very… very receptive when she revealed her powers to me."

Guardedly, Ben accepted her handshake. "And what about her when you showed your powers? Or did you, yet?" he asked, a little more pointedly than he might've meant.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you again, Rexi," Liss said, "but Ben's got a point. When did you get powers too?"

Rexia made a "hmmm" sound and looked at Liss's feet for a minute. "Rexi?" Liss prompted after a few seconds of silence.

Finally she looked up and met their eyes. "Master Mortis took an interest in me, and gave me a portion of his powers to fight the Mythos."

"Master Mortis?" Ben asked in disbelief.

"You mean that Grim Reaper guy for the Arcana you told me about?" Liss asked, and Rexia nodded. "…why did he take an interest in you?"

"Because I died," Rexia said, suddenly and bluntly.

Ben and Liss recoiled a step, but Rexia laughed. "Really? I helped you in Mazones, didn't I?" she asked.

"It's nothing personal," Ben replied, "but the undead aren't usually friendly."

"I'm not a zombie," Rexia replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Master Mortis restored my body so I could see Liss again. Maybe reevaluate how I treated you before. But in exchange I have to kill Mythos and absorb their essence for Master Mortis.

"But that's also what I meant when I was talking about wider perspective, Liss. I've been able to see just how far this entire thing with the Mythos stretches, and like it or not you've made yourself the center of everything that's gone on before and everything that's going to happen from now on. Many more people will be counting on, and you won't be able to afford think of the fate of one person any longer."

Ben frowned. "Hey, leave her alone, whoever the hell you are. She's still bouncing back from losing a friend of ours. Come on Liss, let's go."

"Go? Go where?" Liss asked, sounding slightly dazed.

"What about to that concert Mal told us about?" Ben suggested.

"I'm not going to a concert," Liss said, recovering herself. "Rexi, do you know what—"

"God damn it, Liss!" Ben snapped. "Would it kill you to just go out and have fun like a regular kid sometimes?" She turned and stared at him in surprise. Ben froze for a second and felt an urge to back down, but then gathered himself and gave her an exasperated glare in reply. He wasn't doubting that her conviction to fighting Mythos was a good thing, but even superheroes got to enjoy themselves inbetween ends of the world, didn't they? Otherwise, sooner or later, they'd go insane. Ben looked at her again and vowed to stand firm.

After a minute Liss nodded slowly at his question. "Maybe that'd be a good idea after all. Rexi, you want to come on?"

"Wait, her too?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, her too," Liss replied. "She was my friend and helped me out when I was in rehab. And we had an argument but she wants to make things better, sounded like to me." Liss glanced over at Rexia, who seemed surprised to realize they were both looking at her as her cheeks suddenly turned pink. "You okay, Rexi?" Liss asked.

"I—I guess," she said and glanced around, not seeming like the person just talking about wider perspectives and being chosen by the Grim Reaper. If anything she seemed surprised to be welcomed back so eagerly in spite of all that. "I didn't think you'd be asking me out socially tonight."

Liss smiled and cupped Rexia's cheeks in a way that made Ben grind his teeth. "Hey, I only got beat up by monsters, you came back from the _dead_. If I need a night out, so do you," Liss said with a playful smile.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

XXX

When Liss and Ben descended the stairs back into the living room, Virginia was sitting on the couch trying very hard to pretend she was reading the book in her lap. She gave herself away when she jumped at seeing another person come down with them.

"Who's that?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, Liss, who is that?" Angelo asked, quirking an eyebrow at Rexia, seeming able to tell there was much more to her than met the eye.

"She's one of my superhero friends, Sensei," Liss told him. "We heard they're reopening the old amusement park and there's some kind of concert tonight we were gonna check out."

"Can I go too?" Virginia blurted out.

She went rigid as her father turned and stared at her with deeply questioning look in his eyes. "All three of you are you going to this place, huh?" Angelo asked slowly. "You're not expecting any…trouble there, are you?"

"Sensei, I'd already be there if I thought monsters were sneaking around," Liss replied, giving him her most honest face. After a few seconds he nodded in response. A very slow nod, of a concerned father who trusted the person before him but unsure if he trusted them quite _that_ far.

After a while he said, "All right. BUT. Nobody even thinks, let alone _talks_ about powers for Ginny or her being within five hundred feet of any monsters you guys see. Now or _ever_. Is that perfectly _clear_?" He declared.

Rexia took a slow, deliberate step forward. "The Mythos are growing even now, and this one—"

"I said, am I _clear_!" Angelo repeated, more forcefully now. Rexia didn't flinch or step back, but she didn't try to refute Angelo's assertion again, either.

But Virginia stood up, and spoke up. "Why do Liss and Ben and their friend get to fight monsters and have powers, but not me? Why am I different? Even if I wanted to be a Rider like her, and I'm not saying I do."

"Because _I'm_ your father," Angelo said darkly. " _That's_ why it's different." Virginia looked back at Liss, appealing silently for her to say something, but then her eyes fell on the the white orb replacing Liss's own eye.

Virginia turned to look up at her father again. "All right, daddy. All right."

Angelo nodded, then gave her a playful shove on the shoulder. "All right. Then go have some fun."

XXX

Marvel Land had been nothing but a deserted ruin for longer than both Liss and Ben could remember, but as Shift Runner rolled to a stop behind the fifth row of cars parked around it, it was obvious it wasn't anymore.

Giant strobe lights streaked back and forth across the night sky. Colorful lights flashed on rides and buildings, and as they watched an elevator finished climbing to the top of the drop tower before plunging back down at incredible speed. Behind it the train of the Dragon Prince, the park's rollercoaster, screamed by. Just beyond the raised tracks there was what looked like a large stage, and the group could just barely hear the sounds of blaring music above the ocean of noise coming from the rest of the park.

"I've never seen anything like it," Rexia whispered into Liss's ear from the back seat, although it was as if she was talking more to herself.

"I heard it was nothing special for a theme park," Liss answered, shrugging gently. "But I never been to one, so don't listen to me."

Rexia smiled. "All right, I won't. Let's go look around!" she said and took Liss by the arm and all but dragged her off the bike and into the crowds. Behind them Ben and Virginia rode in on Air Talon in its motorcycle form, and Ben held out his hand in a futile gesture to stop them as they disappeared into the crush of people coming and going around the park.

"What about Ben?" Liss asked, dragging her feet behind her and wondering what had gotten into Rexia. She hadn't been this eager about anything when Liss had been staying with her before.

Rexia gave a slightly teasing smile. "You said people come here to scare themselves for fun, right? They shouldn't be in any trouble, then, should they?"

"What does that mean—" Liss started to ask before Rexia hauled her toward a row of game booths.

They got to a booth with a row of squirt guns that contestants were meant to spray at targets to make little rocket ships fly up a bar to win prizes. On a shelf above the targets were rows of colorful teddy bears and other plushes.

"What are those?" Rexia asked, pointing at a display of colorful dinosaur-like dolls wearing dark red saddles and hiking boots.

"Um, I think those are from a video game, or a cartoon, or something? I don't know, I haven't really paid attention to anything like that for a while," Liss shrugged.

The operator, an unshaven college kid, gave them a look of annoyance. "Ladies, if all you're gonna do is watch, would you mind taking a step back? We got people here who actually want to play."

"We'll play," Rexia said, then looked to Liss. "Um, do you have money?"

That got a small laugh out of Liss, something that took Rexia back to when Liss was recovering under her care and challenged her beliefs about the infallibility of authority figures. Liss had seemed so confident and in control back then, even before Rexia had learned she was Tarock. Now, it seemed so obvious to link them, she felt a little foolish not to have made the connection before.

Liss slapped a handful of change onto the counter. "What's the matter, your Grim Reaper not giving you an allowance?" she asked. "Good thing mine did." They stepped up the counter and closed a hand around the handle of one of the water guns. The operator blew a whistle, and Liss and Rexia both squeezed the triggers and streams of water reached to the back of the booth and pounded into the targets.

As her finger tightened completely around the trigger, everything in Liss's view turned gray and seemed to stop for a second and she could see her shot was just a little off-center. She tilted the gun slightly and hit the target head-on. The little rocket ship shot up to the top and a plastic sign at the top flashed "WINNER" as an electric bell buzzed.

A second later Rexia hit the bell, and she actually threw up her arms and cheered, making a surprised Liss retreat a step to her side and bump into the kid next to her. Rexia turned and grinned at Liss, then grabbed her hands. "We won! We both won!" she gushed. "Aren't you excited?!"

"It's just a game…"

"But we WON!" Rexia insisted, her grin not moving at all.

"You sure did," interrupted the man behind the counter, "And what prize will it be for the big winners tonight?"

"Ooooh, I want the pink one," Rexia answered him, pointing at the assortment of booted dinosaurs. The operator got on his tiptoes, awkwardly grabbed the toy down and handed it to Rexia before he turned to Liss.

"And what about you, young lady?" he asked, sounding gradually more disinterested.

"Um, the turquoise one, I guess?" Liss answered.

Rexia shook her head. "No! The yellow one! They'll look cuter together!"

Liss squinted at her friend. Friend. That almost sounded like a foreign word in her mind. "When did you get all…like this?" she asked as she was handed her doll.

A lighthearted giggle was Rexia's first response. "I think it's because I'm finally out of Mazones," she answered. "There we were always waiting for the next Mythos attack. I was just staying inside all the time like I thought someday it everything was just going to be better somehow. I should've been out doing something with myself like you were, Liss."

Then without waiting for Liss to answer, Rexia pointed out a building billed as The Bug House with a brightly painted mural of smiling cartoon ladybugs and caterpillars climbing up beanstalks on the side. She led Liss inside and though Liss's eye got a few uneasy looks from the employees, they let Liss and Rexia into a twirling ride with the cars in the shape of smiling beetles. For a few minutes they spun around and around while Rexia clung to Liss's arm and giggled like it was something she'd never done before.

After a minute Liss looked down at Rexia as they whirled across the room again and again, and found she couldn't help but smile herself. She hadn't even thought about wanting to visit any place like this since she'd been little, but sitting in a silly ride with a smiling bug on the outside was actually making her feel like she had when she'd been practicing guitar again for the first time in years.

She was enjoying herself.

For the first time in she didn't even remember how long, she wasn't thinking of some vital goal she had to accomplish or sparing thoughts toward the Arcana who were after her. She wasn't being Tarock, she was only being Liss Decker, a regular girl enjoying a night out with afriend.

As they left Liss thought she saw Ben and Virginia in line to go in, but Rexia dragged her to a food stand and had Liss buy her a funnel cake and two corndogs. Rexia gobbled them down, but she didn't rush to their next stop as fast as she could anymore.

XXX

"I don't see them anywhere," Ben said, but he hadn't thought they would even before he and Virginia had gotten on the Ferris Wheel.

He hadn't even thought there were that many people in their whole town, but underneath them people moved like some kind of constantly-shifting blanket on the ground, going from ride to game booth to food cart. Virginia was leaning hard against the bars on the other side of their car as she looked out over the park too.

"No, we weren't really going to, were we?" Virginia sighed and sat back, biting off a mouthful of cotton candy, totally oblivious to the wads that had stuck in her hair while she was looking out over the crowd. "But this isn't so bad, right? It's kind of pretty up here."

"I'd like it better if I knew where Liss was," Ben replied. "I know she doesn't need anybody to protect her or anything like that, but—"

"Yeah," Virginia interrupted, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Liss is pretty cool, huh?"

Ben looked away again so she didn't see his bemused expression. "Yeah, but didn't your dad tell you not to get too involved with her? I mean, the Mythos are still out there. Even Liss couldn't keep their boss from getting away. She's probably getting stronger and getting ready to send out even worse monsters than we already had to fight."

She frowned and wolfed down the rest of her candy. "I'm gonna be sixteen in another month. **One month** ," Virginia said, her words muffled by the mouthful of cotton candy until she swallowed. "He can't tell me what to do for much longer."

The Ferris Wheel clacked to a stop and the door of their car opened. Ben looked at Virginia for a few minutes as they got out, studying her, before he said what he said next. "You know, this is the first day Liss has actually gone out and tried to relax since she quit school to be Tarock. Everything's so dark and dangerous with here. She's obsessed with it, or something."

"I know it's—"

"No, you _don't_ ," Ben interrupted, freezing her with an icy stare. He'd wondering in the back of his mind if he'd done the right thing by becoming Vaga for a while, but now he had actual experience to pass on. Maybe he could use it. "The first time I went to the Sphere I had to protect a bunch of old soldiers, but then I ended up having to kill an old friend of theirs…the guy was named Saal. The Mythos took him over. Do you have any idea what it's like to kill an actual person, kid?"

"Don't call me _kid_! Of course you have to fight, and sometimes you have to kill! Do you think I'm stupid or something?!" Virginia exploded. Ben stepped back in surprise and alarm, but she wasn't finished. "My dad's always saying how great it is Liss decided to fight monsters to protect our stupid little town! And she gets to frigging skip school and avoid her family and risk her life fighting monsters, and it's the best thing in the world and everybody in his kung-fu class should be just like her and support the community and all that kind of crap!

"But not me! I'm his precious little daughter! If _I_ think about trying to get involved like the two of you, I'll get grounded til I'm thirty! What makes me so different?! And what if you and Liss can't beat all the monsters yourselves? You're the one who just said they're probably gonna be back, and they'll be even worse than before!"

Ben stared at the scowling girl for a minute in silence, not sure what to say to something like that. When he managed to find his voice, all he could say was, "Let's go find Liss."

XXX

Liss led Rexia over to the stage to see what kind of bands were playing and let her recover from her devastating meal a little. Rexia leaned on Liss heavily as she tried to regain her composure.

The band on stage, a bunch of toned Asian men in jeans and tanktops whose drum said "DRAGON SOUND" over a picture of a Chinese dragon breathing flames, pounded on their instruments for another minute as the girls came up, then all combined their efforts to produce a final blast of sound echoed by a shower of colorful sparks from the light rigging. The spectators cheered almost as loud as the last chord had been, and the musicians took a bow and filed off the stage.

A minute later stage hands appeared and started removing the instruments and most of the microphones, and then an unassuming man in a dark gray suit, with a gauze bandage covering half his face took the stage, and confused murmuring broke out among the crowd. Nonetheless the man smiled as he stepped up to the central microphone.

"Hey folks, how's everybody doing tonight?" he said, and no-one called out an answer, but the man only chuckled. "Oh, I know what you guys are thinking. 'We came to see a real band, not some old white guy!' Something like that I'll bet, huh?" he went on, his smile not dimming a bit. A few laughs here and there. "Well, just in case there's somebody who cares, my name's Carl Stanford and I'm the one who put this place back together and got the talent to come in for the concert, and I wanted to thank everybody for coming out tonight and making the park's reopening such a big hit!"

A cheer went up all over the crowd, and Stanford smiled and waited for it to die down. "And before L-Mitless comes out to entertain all you nice people," Stanford steamrolled, "it's come to my attention that we have a local celebrity here tonight! Your own hometown hero who was brave enough to fight the monsters who've been appearing around here! She's been gone for a while, but now she's back! Everybody give it on up for _Tarock_!"

Spotlights on the stage suddenly swiveled forward and focused on Liss. How they knew where she was, she had no idea, Out of the corner of her fake eye Liss could see a ghostly image of Lost, crying out and reaching out for her with one hand and the silver marks on her arm from Lost's tears felt like they were burning into her skin.

Then Lost was gone and the burning subsided, but suddenly Liss's stomach clenched and everything seemed to spin.

Something was very, very wrong.

Rexia shook her gently. "Liss? Are you all right?" she asked, but Liss staggered in the direction she remembered the last bathroom they passed being. She had to recover and get her guard back up so she could defend herself from whatever was going on.

"Well folks, looks like Tarock's a little camera shy!" Stanford called out, and a few ripples of laughter from the crowd drowned out the noise of the people who'd been standing near Liss puking all over the ground. "But hey, she's probably earned the right to some privacy—" Stanford went on, but Rexia looking after Liss, gasping in disgust at what the people around were doing but also detecting a feeling of something wrong, some sickening _power_ in the very air. But at the same time it was something so dark and so _alien_ as to be undetectable to a normal person.

But she'd been taken outside of _normal_ a while ago.

Even at that distance her eyes locked with Carl Stanford, and a sly smirk formed on his lips.

XXX

Liss staggered into the first ladies' room she saw and kicked the door shut behind her. She felt she shouldn't have run, should have faced what was happening head-on, but Liss wanted to prove she was strong, not suicidal. Even as her stomach seemed to unknot and the urge to puke weakened, Liss was sure something from the Mythos was nearby, and with the way she'd been singled out in a crowd she was even more sure it was coming for her and had something terrible planned.

All of a sudden something smashed into the back of her head and knocked Liss forward, and her forehead banged against the edge of a sink as she went down. Everything seemed to be filled with green and blue fireworks for a second, and when they started to clear Liss realized she was looking up into the face of a huge, muscular man with close-cropped blond hair. He scowled down at her and reached for her torso, but wasn't sure if she was more or less alarmed when he instead felt in the recesses of her duster and pulled out her Fate Driver and four form cards.

"Not much without these, are you?" he grunted with a slight Russian accent.

Suddenly Liss lunged at him and bit his arm. He yelped in surprise and Liss grabbed the Fate Driver and wrenched it out of his hand. " _No!_ " she screamed. "This is _mine! Nobody can take it away!_ "

Her attacker jumped back toward the door and sneered at her. "Enjoy it if you can, without _these!_ " he held up her four form cards, and sprinted out of the bathroom.

Liss grabbed the edge of the sink her head had crashed into and hauled herself up with a speed more than belying the bloodied bruise that was already forming. She could thank a rush of rage and adrenaline for that. Those cards and the power they held were _hers_. She'd reached out and taken the first when a killer monster had been on the loose in her town. She'd fought and suffered to gain them, to master them. There was a damn crystal in her head now to show for it.

And she nearly ripped the door off its hinges as she chased after the man who'd stolen them.

XXX

The next band, an all-female quartet, had taken the stage and launched into a captivating set with Carl Stanford off to the side, leering lightly. Rexia stared hard at him, sure something was wrong and that he was the cause, but unwilling to make any move with such a huge crowd around. She briefly entertained the thought of going to find Liss, but dismissed it since she didn't dare let Stanford out of her sight if he was up to something and wielding power as dark as she'd sensed.

A huge man appeared from the wings of the stage, walked up to Stanford and handed him something. Straining her eyes Rexia could make out four colorful cards with very recognizable golden symbols on them…

" **Dark Embrace** ," she said immediately, and dark smoke billowed out from her body, forming itself into a dark suit and hooded cloak. A silvery gauntlet ending in a vicious curved blade three feet long flashed into existence around one hand. She'd become the powerful Trideka again, and seemed to fly over the crowd, trailing clouds of dark smoke as she landed in front of Stanford. The band members screamed in terror and jumped back, but Trideka paid no attention to them and leveled her scythe at Stanford.

"Give me those!" she demanded, but Stanford didn't look the least bit intimidated. Instead, he grinned and ripped the bandage off his face. Underneath his face was covered with green scales and the skin of his cheek had peeled back to expose sharp, needle-like teeth.

"You don't scare me! Oh, I know who provides your power, little one!" Stanford jeered, a hideous gurgle now resonating in his voice. Trideka slashed at him with her scythe but a white staff with a dark purple crystal appeared in his hand, parrying the attack, and he disappeared in a flash of light. "And I serve a power darker and greater than that!" His mocking words hung in the air for a few seconds after he was gone.

Trideka looked around, swinging her cloak wide and sending wisps of choking black smoke flying. The man who'd handed off Liss's cards to Stanford was gone, though she guessed he'd just disappeared into the crowd. As she scanned for him Trideka spotted a familiar face pushing her way toward the stage.

It was Liss Decker, and no-one tried to stop her as she climbed onto the stage and walked right through the clouds of deathly smoke coming off her body and looked into Trideka's skeletal mask without flinching.

"What happened? Why'd you change?" Liss asked. "Did you see the guy who stole my cards? Please tell me you did."

"I did, but he gave them to that man who organized this park opening…he's a Mythos, and he disappeared."

Liss growled. "Any idea where he disappeared _to_?" But Trideka didn't get a chance to answer her. The ground started to rumble, knocking Liss and the band members off their feet. Trideka stood firm, unaffected by the shaking.

In just a second the cause became obvious. The rollercoaster whizzed along its track just below a giant shape that rose to the sky just beyond it. It was like a black tree with huge twisted branches reaching out with no rhyme or reason, swaying in the air as if perhaps they were…arms, instead. It seemed impossible that something so dark should be visible against the night sky, but at the same time the thing seemed so ugly and out of place it was impossible not to stare at it in disgust and terror.

On top of whatever the hideous thing was, there was a huge, shapeless mass with pyramid-shaped blocks or crystals sticking out in all directions.

And coming from between two of the strange pyramids was a dark purple glow.

XXX

Stanford reformed within a circle of tall standing stones of numerous colors. It had cost a pretty penny to find specimens threaded with just the right veins of minerals to enable him to escape to them as he had, but it had saved him from an angel of death in the nick of time. It was worth it ten times over, in spite of the brave face he'd put on to keep her from thinking that even power such as hers was intimidating.

Yes, he'd felt a moment of fear when Trideka had attacked him. Even a being of power like himself could die, but then, a being of power like himself could _outwit_ even death if they knew what they were doing.

And Stanford knew what he was doing, as he was about to prove.

He walked out to a balcony at the top of the crystalline mass atop the dark tree that had grown up outside Marvel Land. Already he could see a pair of winged shapes flying closer to him, carrying a large rectangular object between them. As they closed in he could make them out as a horned, red-skinned devils, but they didn't matter. All that mattered was the carefully-sculpted block of clear crystal they carried.

He banged his staff on the floor and a window appeared in midair and floated slowly around the room in a circle.

And in the sky above the park, huge floating windows showing what was unfolding in Stanford's private chamber. Exactly what he wanted.

Stanford stepped out of the way to let the two monsters land on the balcony and carry in the object that was the ultimate example of the power he wielded. As they set it down and moved it into position he waved his staff and changed even further. The scales spread across his entire body while a dark cloak formed around him as his body shrank and stooped forward, leaning hard on his staff and leaving only his shimmering yellow eyes peering out from underneath his hood. He had become the Warlock Mythos once again.

His transformation complete, Warlock shambled over to the crystal block and tapped it reverently with the tip of his staff and ripples of light traveled through it to its corners. The crystal block creaked and then four arms sprouted from the corners, each with fingers held up as it meant to clutch something.

Warlock reached into the recesses of his cloak and placed the red Card of Swords into the first hand, then charged it with a bolt of energy from his staff. "Rise Djinn, rider of the roaring gale!" he said, his voice half a hideous gurgle now. The card glowed with a crimson light and above it appeared a transparent image of a woman whose lower body was made of a miniature tornado. She held a long sword in one hand whose blade also seemed to be made of rushing winds.

Next he dropped the green Card of Pentacles into a hand and tapped it with his staff. "Rise Golem, wrecker from the earth!" The card glowed and a hulking human-like figure who seemed to be made of stone or clay appeared, with gigantic fists and mystical writing engraved on the monster's forehead. A pentacle was engraved into the material of his chest.

Then Warlock slipped the yellow Card of Cups into the next hand and energized it. "Rise Undine, deadly but beautiful!" The card glowed and an image of a woman with flowing blue hair and a fish's tail in place of legs appeared. In her delicate hands was a long golden spear with a barbed shell as its point, with streams of water rushing off it and disappearing as they got too far away from the magic weapon.

Lastly he placed the blue Card of Wands into the last crystalline hand, and charged it with a tap of his staff. "Rise Ifrit, bringer of a thousand agonies!" A final image appeared, of a vaguely female shape covered in licking blue flames. In one hand she carried a golden scepter with a ball of white fire rolling and spewing tiny flickers of flame every few seconds.

"Now, my creatures of the elements, go forth!" Warlock croaked with glee. "Let this be the dawn of the Order of Shining Darkness!"

The monsters' images turned into streaks of colored light and flew out of Warlock's stronghold then reformed as they hit the ground.

XXX

Djinn's long hair billowed out behind her as she brandished her sword and flew through the park, knocking people off the ground. Right behind her flew Ifrit, swing her scepter and shooting fireballs that blew up game booths and anything else they hit.

Undine swooped through the air at the stage, aiming her spear at one of the band members before Trideka dashed into the way and took the spear on her chest. Trideka only stood there, unmoving and giving no indication she was hurt before slicing at Undine's head with her scythe. The watery monster ducked back out of the way and swam through the air into the chaos that was unfolding in the park with Trideka hot on her trail.

In town Golem appeared, stretching up to his full twenty foot height, and started to batter the roofs off buildings at his shoulder level.

And as bricks flew from one of Golem's hammer-blows, a pair of dark-skinned men in outlandish uniforms appeared in the street.

"Wondering what Tarock's been up to now, maybe?" Lieutenant Loi asked his friend.

"I think we have other things to think about," replied Uthar.

Loi grinned and produced a rectangular device from his backpack and held it up to his waist, where a strap shot from one side and looped around his waist to lock into his new buckle on the other side. In his other hand he held up a card with a picture of a white stone tower being struck repeatedly by lightning.

"I think it's time we got involved," Loi said. Uthar nodded gravely as Golem saw them and stomped closer. Loi's grin didn't waver at all.

It was going to be the beginning of a long night.

XXX

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt…**

 **(A Rider in a green and black mini-mech trades punches with the Golem)**

 **Loi: Find Tarock! She'll know what to do!**

 **(Vaga duels with Djinn, and jerks in surprise as two groups in green and yellow uniforms suddenly join the fray)**

 **Ben: Liss, where are you?**

 **(The band performs in the middle of the chaos, and in the crowd Virginia claps and cheers)**

 **Virginia: She's wherever she has to be. I know everything will be all right…**

 **(A pair of dark silhouettes watch as Liss and Uthar enter an opening in the black tree)**

 **Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.**

 **XXX**

 **It appears I'm back, beginning a new portion of the story. This is where things start to ramp up for Liss, but also where she finds she's got more allies than she thought, some of them kind of unexpected.**

 **Got to give credit where credit's due. The song Liss tried to play originally came from the mouth of Dave Lister, and while I can't find anything to indicate it's a full, real song, it sounded like it'd be a good one if it was. Ben's repertoire of cheesy, but awesome, love songs is thanks to Walk the Moon, Road Avenger and Tommy TuTone.**

 **The band Dragon Sound was from the obscure but also awesome movie The Miami Connection. Check it out. You'll love it.**

 **Hope you'll look forward to what comes next.**


	2. Reading 27: Passive Influence

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Twenty-Seven: Passive Influence**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange medieval world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became Tarock, a warrior of fearsome powers.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

After Lost's capture, Liss returned to Earth to collect herself and try to work out a way to save her friend from the leader of the Mythos. While taking a night off to visit an amusement park with friends she was attacked and her form cards stolen by a new agent of the Mythos, Ivan Tawanovitch. He delivered them to another Mythos commander who created four monsters based on the elemental power of each card and turned them loose on the park.

And then, chaos erupted…

* * *

The old motorcycle roared like some kind of angry animal as its engine sparked to life for the first time in years, but the only thing Angelo was paying attention to was the alien tree-like shape looming over town.

"That's got Gorgom beat," he said to himself as he pulled into the empty street. The scars from his encounter with the Bat Mutant all those years ago throbbed as he thought of the name; that had put the fear of God into him that day, and he was sure he'd only survived because they were looking for Black Sun instead.

But there was no time to think of that now. A new evil was in his own town right now, worse than a pair of mutants, and his youngest daughter was right in the middle of it. Angelo knew Liss was there too and could handle anything that came her way. He told that to everyone he could get to listen, to try to inspire them to help the community. But Virginia…

Angelo didn't dare let himself think of that. He had to get there and help, that was all.

The bike's engine sputtered a few times and Angelo made a point to remember to ask Liss where her super-bike had come from. But then as it always did it screamed to life and he gripped the handlebars hard as he shot down the road to Marvel Land.

* * *

Shards of brick and glass pelted the street as the twenty-foot Golem finished smashing the roof off a building. But as he did the stone monster saw two people in worn brown uniforms standing in the middle of the street looking up at him. They didn't flee. They'd seen too many like him to be worried about one more, even as he took his first step closer them with a foot like a rock crusher.

"So, looks like here's a chance to try out your new weapon, Loi," Uthar, the smaller one, said.

Loi grinned and lifted a card with a picture of a white stone tower being struck by lightning. "And I suppose you'll go and find Tarock?" he asked.

Uthar answered by getting three cards out of a pouch on his belt. Like Loi's they had a picture on the front, these of a dark green dragonfly. He willed a little of his energy into each and they shimmered and split apart into tiny transparent shards that reformed into transparent dragonflies each the size of his hand. They were Wild Cards, the same spies/messengers that Tarock used, but newer and more refined, seeming to be made of sheets of completely smoothed glass instead of the rough faceted surfaces of older Wild Cards.

The ground rumbled as Golem took another powerful step toward them. Uthar released the crystalline insects, the three of them already knowing his instructions.

Find Tarock.

"I'm counting on you!" Uthar said as he turned away.

Loi laughed. "You're always counting me! Even when you don't know it!" But then his expression became serious, and even as the giant rock monster stomped closer Loi knelt for a second and cupped his hands in prayer. "Sentos, guardian of our people since a forgotten age, I promise to use your power to defend the innocent from the enemies of all, as you would have done. May you rest easy."

Then he stood and called out " **Change Rampart!** " He slid his card into the slot on top of his buckle.

" **Tower! Major!** " said the buckle, and a black suit surrounded his body before a green rectangle drifted down over his body, surrounding the suit with thicker armor. His mask was blank except for a pair of round green lenses, with raised edging on the brow of his mask and shoulder armor looking like the parapets of castle towers. But like his suit the armor was mostly black, with the character "XVI" were engraved on his black chestplate in dark green. His gauntlets, greaves and the strap on his belt were green as well, the only hints of color on his uniform.

Loi had become Kamen Rider Rampart.

Golem's wrecking ball of a fist hurtled at him, but Rampart dug in his heels and caught it between his hands. Sparks jumped from under Rampart's boots as Golem pushed him back, and finally knocked Rampart into the air. He spun head over heels down the street but managed to get his feet underneath him and land skidding in a crouch. Golem closed in, giant hands held high to crush Rampart.

But Rampart was ready. He swept his hands in front of his buckle, and in answer to his signal it announced, " **Arms of Fate! Battle Shell!** " Suddenly pieces of brick and concrete Golem had broken off from the buildings around them rolled closer to Rampart and started to cluster around his body. Higher and thicker the debris packed itself, stretching seventeen feet high. Within seconds it was solidifying, changing into a sleek black humanoid shape. Ridges shaped like parapets formed on its shoulders and in rows along its knuckles too.

Golem swung both of his giant fists at his new foe even though Rampart was almost his size now. Rampart caught the blows on his forearms and was pushed back along the street by the force of Golem's blow, his giant feet tearing up ditches in the asphalt. But then Rampart suddenly ducked out of the way and Golem's momentum carried him forward. Before he could recover Rampart slammed his elbow into the monster's back, knocking Golem staggering until he landed with a crash on top of a car at the corner of the intersection.

Uthar looked back as the battle between the giants became fiercer by the moment with Golem suddenly kicking Rampart's legs out from under him. The monster slammed a huge stone fist down on Rampart's chest, but Rampart's own fist flashed out and its ridged knuckles cut into Golem's wrist. Rocks flew through the air and Golem's giant mouth opened in a silent but angry scream of pain.

Reaching into the pouch on his belt again Uthar produced another Wild Card, one with a picture of a rhinoceros beetle on the front. He concentrated and it changed into a smooth, glassy beetle.

"I can't believe I've just arrived and need to call for help already," Uthar said, "but hurry to Avalon. Tarock will get to see how we've learned to fight." Immediately the beetle spread its wings and flew off, vanishing into the sky after a second and carrying a message home Uthar had prepared in case of emergency.

And with that done, Uthar jumped on the strange two-wheeled vehicle his armorers had provided him and sped off toward the amusement park where it sounded like an even bigger battle was raging.

* * *

The people gathered around the stage were starting to calm down just a little now that the mermaid monster had been chased off by Trideka, whose transformation had probably scared them more. The sound of explosions rang out from uncomfortably near, though, and Liss was sure that one of the monsters would find its way to the stage soon.

But what could she do? Her form cards were gone, and those damned screens floating all over the park were still showing Warlock's snake-like face peering out from the depths of his hood. Mocking her, reminding her that her powers had created the monsters were running rampant around the park.

She eyed the giant monster tree looming over them Warlock had created too, and wondered if there was a way in. Wasn't there always, in these kinds of things? If he'd made this big of a show of turning Liss's own powers against her, he probably wanted her to infiltrate his inner sanctum or whatever so she'd make one last futile attack and he could show how powerful he really was to everyone watching by destroying her utterly.

That was always when the fearless underdog champion turned the tables and scored an inspiring victory, though, wasn't it?

While Liss was thinking all this a huge, muscular man with a scraggly brown beard came up to her. He had on a black "SECURITY" muscle shirt and a slightly troubled expression on his face he was trying to hide, instead of the angry "don't screw with me" look Liss was used to seeing on bouncers and security guards. "You're Tarock, right?" he asked, leaning over to peer at her artificial eye.

"Yeah, but I can't change right now," Liss answered. Should she have been trying to keep who she was a secret? She hadn't really thought about it before, and now she was marked by her fake eye, and hiding the fact that she was Tarock seemed kind of pointless.

"L-Mitless would really like it if you'd come talk to them," the security-hulk said.

Great. Now she had to go tell a bunch of scared divas everything was going to be all right? Liss shrugged and jumped up onto the stage behind him and followed him behind the curtains, where four twenty-something women in extravagant stage costumes stood talking quietly among themselves until the security guard cleared his throat. The girls turned, smiling, and then their faces fell. Liss guessed they'd expected to see her in her armor after having fought off one or two of the monsters attacking the park already.

The security-hulk disappeared back outside at a slow, professional walk. Somehow, Liss could tell he was going back out to keep a watch for the attacking monsters and not to make a run for it. Liss found herself wondering if other Kamen Riders were like him, and how she rated in comparison. If they would've been able to save Lost and keep the attack on the park from happening…

But the band yanked her back to reality with an anxious question. "What's going on out there?" asked one girl, a wispy brunette whose eyes seemed to pierce right through the thick bangs hanging over her face. "Is everyone okay? What are those monsters doing?"

"Karyn, relax," said another girl, a dark-haired specimen wearing a red and black corset and hot pants. "Sorry, she's been kind of jumpy lately and having a monster attack right in the middle of a show isn't helping."

Another band member, a girl who was shorter than the other but had curves that seemed to go on forever and dark blue hair stepped forward.

Liss stopped herself and tried to remember if she'd honestly been checking out another girl a second ago… _not the time!_

The blue-haired girl spoke, mercifully interrupting Liss. "We just saw you still there, not changed, and wanted to know if something was wrong. If we could help, maybe. That bruise looks really bad…" She reached out and delicately brushed her fingers across the bruise on Liss's forehead where it had bounced off a sink when she'd been ambushed in the bathroom.

"I've lived through worse," Liss said, and stepped back with a slight shiver.

"I bet you have," the singer said, shaking her head sadly. "You poor kid."

"I am _not_ a kid," Liss snapped.

The singer stepped back. "It was just an expression." The dark-haired girl placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Dan," she said to the blue-haired girl. "Please, we're in trouble and we need her help."

Dan placed her hand on top of the other girl's. "Lily…"

Liss waved it off. "I'm sure the others, the other Riders I know, are dealing with the monsters already. I think if I'm going to help I need to get inside that giant tree and find out where Warlock's hiding my cards."

"And you think you can make it without them?" said a mildly derisive male voice from behind her. Liss turned around and saw the security-hulk escorting another stranger in: a lithe, dark-skinned man in a brown uniform of some kind. He had on a scowl as he approached like he was looking for a fight, but as he saw Liss and seemed to recognize her as the one he was looking for. But as he looked her over, taking in the sight of her crystal eye and what she'd been talking about as he'd entered, his angry expression and the hostility in his stance drained away as if this wasn't what he'd been expecting to find.

"Fred, who's that?" Dan asked, starting to look overwhelmed.

"He was asking if anybody knew where Tarock was," answered the security-hulk. "We thought he was a friend of hers. He said he followed a bunch of cards here and said she has cards like that too."

Liss put an end to that assumption. "Who are you? And you have Wild Cards too? Let me see them."

He held up the three Dragonfly Wild Cards he'd sent to find her, and said, "My name is Uthar Taran'dalben. I'm Captain of the Guard of the city Avalon, on the bottom levels of the Sphere. We just weathered a massive siege by the Mythos and I'd come to see what you were doing, but it looks like you're in the middle of one yourself."

"You mean there's more?" Dan gasped.

"Wait," Liss said, trying to defuse the situation. "I have an idea for you guys. It's a crazy one, but if you want to help, it's probably the best way."

"What is it?" Lily asked patiently, but there was an edge to her voice.

Liss took a deep breath. "Do you think you guys can go back out and start your set? Maybe if people see the concert's still going on they'll calm down a little, and they can get together in one place so they'll be out of the way while the other Riders take care of the monsters and won't have to worry about getting blown up or something."

"Sure!" Lily said, and squeezed Dan's hand to give reassurance. "Let's go get started, huh?"

They filed back out onto the stage, and for a moment Fred the security-hulk looked back questioningly before he followed his charges.

"You know," Uthar said once they were alone, "Your idea could spare a lot of the people out there. Or, it could make for a lot of defenseless targets if the monsters out there notice them."

"No, it won't," Liss said calmly. "Because I'm going to get my cards back and end this."

"Are you out of your mind!?" Uthar thundered, then sighed and clutched his head. "You can't change into Tarock! You'll be torn apart as soon as they see you!"

Liss turned around and walked out past the back end of the stage without answering him. Uthar sputtered and followed after her, then called out, "Where do you think you're going?"

Vacantly, as if she hadn't quite heard him, she answered, "I'm going to get my cards and stop this. I'm going to find Lost. They beat me before but not again. Not ever again." As she walked she craned her head slightly and the image she'd thought she'd seen out of the corner of her eye was indeed there. It was Lost, pulling her ragged robe close around herself as if trying to keep out the cold. Liss clenched her fists, her mind started to clear with her goal reaffirmed, and she walked off faster.

Uthar caught up to her and started to walk by her side. "Your friend sent us a message about someone being captured by the Mythos," he said, trying not to sound prying. "Is that who you mean? Who you want to save?" Liss nodded, and so he added, "Do you think she can be, if the leader of the Mythos went to so much trouble to make sure she was captured?"

"I _have_ to think that. She's just some poor dumb kid who got caught in the middle of something way over her head. I'm not leaving her like that."

"She's in over her head, but you aren't, then?" Uthar asked. "Even without your powers?"

She gave him an impassive look. "Yeah, because I'm Kamen Rider Tarock. And I already told you I'm going to get those back right now."

Uthar quickened his pace to stay beside her. "Well, I'm going with you."

Liss didn't say anything. She just kept walking to where she'd left Shift Runner.

"Well, at least let me give you a ride…," Uthar offered.

* * *

The very air sizzled as one of the monsters leveled its scepter at Ben and Virginia and a barrage of fireballs launched from the tip.

He grabbed Virginia and dragged her into the space between a pair of game booths, but the second the fireballs had screamed past the wind suddenly picked up. A second monster, a woman surrounded by a small tornado flew into view and swung her sword, creating a violent gale that sliced through the booth Ben and Virginia were hiding behind.

" **Change Vaga!** " Ben said and swiped his card in front of his bracelet. Green armor solidified around him once again and his Warder was immediately in hand. The fire Mythos, Ifrit, aimed her scepter at Vaga and sent another fireball shooting at him. Just one, but this time it was half as tall as Vaga himself. He waved his weapon in the air and a shield formed in the air behind it, between him and the giant fireball.

Vaga's shield screamed with the force of the power pressing against it and within seconds it had shattered and the fireball exploded against him and blew him into the air. He bounced once off the ground before skidding to a stop. Quickly he shook his head to get his bearings and got to his feet as quickly as he could, the pair of monsters already closing in on him.

" **Vaga Bowgun!** " His weapon morphed and Vaga fired off an arrow at both monsters. One hit the Ifrit in the chest with a strange *CLANG* but Djinn seemed to smirk as with a wave of her sword she deflected the arrow into the sky.

Desperately he considered his Trosik form with its awesome powers of awareness that had even let injure the invincible Manticore Mythos. But just using that much power had knocked him out, and this time Liss wasn't here to finish the job for him.

Damn it, had there been some hidden meaning when Master Segic had offered him those powers that would make him more effective with them if he could just figure it out? Should Ben have just let himself be changed into whatever Segic had been, like the Arcanum had suggested, to make full use of that power to see the underlying influences on everything? Why hadn't Segic been doing more, then? Was he one of those stupid magical creatures that had the power to do anything they wanted, but weren't allowed to for some idiotic reason?

He clenched his teeth and forced those frenzied thoughts out of his mind. If he was that unsure, then it wasn't a risk he could afford to take. Suddenly he charged at Djinn and fired his crossbow again and again, and again and again she deflected them with the wind-like blade of her sword.

But while her eyes were on the weapon Vaga suddenly jumped and launched a spinning kick that smashed into the back of Djinn's head and sent her spinning through the air. As she whirled away Vaga squeezed the trigger of his crossbow as fast as it would go and sent a hail of glowing arrows into her back.

His attention had been off his other enemy a split-second too long, and the next thing Vaga knew there was a burst of heat and he was blown out of the air. He slammed into the ground and lost all feeling for a second, and a second later he could hear Virginia scream. Ifrit leveled her scepter at him again and it started to glow as the monster charged her next shot, the one that would burn Vaga to a crisp…

….then without warning someone else dashed into the fray and kicked Ifrit's scepter high. The fireball meant for Vaga went shooting off into the night sky where it exploded into small blue puffs like a burst of fireworks.

"Daddy?" Virginia gasped in surprise, and as Vaga's own eyes managed to focus after the blast he recognized Angelo himself standing in front of Ifrit in a fighting pose. Ifrit seemed to blur and disappeared then suddenly was standing next to Angelo with her scepter raised but streams of water shot through the air and hissed as they hit Ifrit.

While the fiery monster was distracted Angelo bellowed and threw punches like bullets at Ifrit, forcing her backward and around a corner while a swarm of small floating shapes trailed behind Angelo. But Ben and Virginia had no time to wonder how he planned on defeating the Mythos by himself, because a blast of wind hit them as Djinn flew back to attack.

* * *

The members of L-Mitless looked out past the curtain dividing the front of the stage and the back. Most of the original crowd who'd gathered to see them perform were still milling around, only a few having found the courage to try to run away from the sounds of destruction that seemed to come from all directions.

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea?" Dan asked, her voice quavering a little. "I don't like this at all…it's too much like the stuff Dina got up to…We shouldn't have taken this gig."

"Dan," Lily said and took her bandmate's hand with a small comforting smile. "Yeah, this isn't a good situation, but it could be a lot worse, right? We've got a bunch of freaking superheroes out there taking care of this, right? Tarock's been fighting these guys for a while, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

Fred the security-hulk nodded. "The rest of the security detail confirms there are three of those monsters out in the park in a ring around where we are now. Even if we got past those, there's another one in town that'd be almost impossible to get past before the bus could get to the interstate. They've been engaged by people in armor, though. It'd probably be best to wait a little longer and see what happens," he advised.

Slowly Dan laced her fingers through Lily's and after a minute returned her smile. "I'm sorry, Lily. I'm just scared. Ever since…you know…everything that happened before I joined the band, I've been kind of jumpy."

"You've got every reason to be right now, sweetie," Lily said, and gave her a quick but warm kiss on the lips. "But the people stuck in this park are too, and Tarock made it our job to try to keep them calm while she takes care of those monsters. What do you say we go do it?"

"I say we go do it," Dan smiled, a little hesitantly, but the rest of the band smiled along with her. "Fred, tell them to go get ready for the first set, okay?"

He gave a silent, professional nod and left to get things set up.

* * *

Angelo bellowed as his fists pounded against Ifrit's body again and again, hitting something solid underneath that sheet of fire. Even though he'd soaked his handwraps with water when he saw there was a fire monster on the attack, already the heat was drying them out again and flecks of blue fire were starting to spread across his forearms.

But as he threw another punch Angelo knew he couldn't let up. If he gave Ifrit a chance to recover she'd start blasting with that scepter of hers, and if there was one thing growing up on the street had taught him it was never let your enemy dictate the terms of a fight.

Another flurry of punches against the monster's chest and Angelo gasped in surprise as the sheet of flames covering Ifrit's body was actually scattered away from its chest for a second by his relentless attack and he could see a dull silver surface underneath. Maybe if he could keep it up, he could do some actual damage.

Then Ifrit's flames angrily flared higher and the monster swung her white-hot scepter at Angelo's chest and he jumped backwards out of the way with the speed of a consummate professional. But the monster chased after him still swinging her scepter and shooting sheets of flame from the tip. One flashed across the back of Angelo's jacket and set it burning. He shouted in surprise then ripped it off before it had a chance to spread to the rest of him.

Ifrit aimed at him again, but before she could roast him four small shapes floated up behind her and blasted her with streams of water from their mouths and steam rose up where she was hit.

They were small crystalline likenesses of seahorses, formed from Wild Cards Liss had left at the house. As they blasted Ifrit again she turned toward them and launched a fireball from her scepter, smashing one that was too slow to fly out of the way into crystal dust.

One seahorse flew up to Angelo and sprayed water onto his smoldering handwraps until they were soaked through again. The sound of another Wild Card shattering called Angelo's attention back to the attacking Ifrit. He grabbed the largest hunk of debris he could lift and threw it at the Mythos with all his might.

There was a horrible *CRACK* as it hit Ifrit across the shoulders, and Angelo could see a ragged dent formed on her body before the flames spread and covered her again. A high-pitched whine that he realized was a scream filled Angelo's ears and two more of the Wild Cards shattered from the sound.

Then the monster was flying at Angelo like a fiery missile. Angelo gasped in surprise and somersaulted to his side just in time with the flames scorching his back as the monster roared past. But she crashed into the base of a light pole and came ricocheting back at Angelo again. He dodged to the side and ran for all he was worth with Ifrit right behind him.

His plan to fight with the Wild Cards covering him wasn't working. Ifirit was just too deadly. Angelo needed a new plan. Something that, if he was right, would put his enemy down all at once. If he did anything wrong, or gave her the slightest opening, he was dead.

What he was about to try was insane, something he wouldn't ask anyone else to try. Not even Liss when she had all of her powers to call on. The scars on his back from his encounter with Gorgom's Bat Mutant years ago seemed to burn for a second as if they were still fresh at the thought of his plan's danger. But years of discipline took hold and Angelo felt cold even though a flaming monster was gaining ground on him every second.

Suddenly he turned around and held out his arms palms flat and shouting at the top of his lungs as he caught Ifrit by the shoulders. Her flames singed his fingers even with his handwraps still soaking wet, but he clenched his teeth, determined not to show any sign of weakness.

Then out of nowhere Angelo dropped onto his back and slammed his foot into the monster's midsection then heaved her into the air. He jumped back up, and Ifrit had already turned around and started flying at him again. As she did he balled the tightest fist he'd ever made, waited as she screamed at him to burn him to a crisp where he stood.

And then Angelo yelled, expelling all the air in his lungs and throwing his hardest punch that tore through Ifrit's torso and exploded out the other side.

Sparks danced along the drops of sweat on his arm and blood coated his knuckles.

But Ifrit's fire faded from her body, which was nothing but a blackened human-shaped mass underneath, and within seconds it had crumbled to ash.

Elsewhere, a blue light went out as its creation was destroyed.

* * *

As a wall of wind ripped by and knocked Vaga down Virginia ran as fast as she could the other way. She tried to remember which way she'd seen her father going as he attacked Ifrit, but then figured he'd want her to stay as far away from that as he could.

But as she ran she heard an unexpected sound: female voices singing, coming out of amps, and not far away.

Afraid of a trap but not knowing where else to go, Virginia ran over to where the music was coming from. She stopped short as she bumped into two people at the back of a crowd, facing the stage that had been set up for the musical acts. One band was dancing and singing with blinding colored lights circling around the stage and flashing into the crowd every few seconds.

It was L-Mitless, a group a few of her friends from school had started listening to a little while ago. Behind them Dragon Sound was playing backup to their singing, and off to the left were Karyn, Lilith, Ali, and on the far right was a shorter girl with dark blue hair, Dangerous Desire, who was their newest member they'd supposedly discovered at a mall or something. A lot of the girls Virginia knew idolized Dangerous Desire for that, although she thought they were really hoping they'd be whisked off to a life of stardom like Desire had been.

Virginia could think of somebody who'd had a chance for greatness just fall at their feet, but they'd been busting their ass and putting themselves in horrible danger to do it. For herself, Virginia found that more admirable than joining a pop group…

After a minute of listening to the music and thinking about who admired who, Virginia realized the edge of panic she'd been feeling at being caught in a monster war zone had gone away.

L-Mitless finished their song and the crowd cheered and clapped. The band members smiled and took some slight bows but then started into another song. Virginia tapped the shoulder of a slightly older girl next to her, and when they turned to look she pointed out, "Isn't it kind of weird to still do the concert in the middle of a freaking monster attack like this…?"

The other girl smiled and shrugged. "I guess, but they said Tarock told them to come out and sing. She thought it was safer to have people come here than running into one of those monsters if we tried to make a run for it. She and her buddies are taking care of the monsters."

Virginia smiled at knowing Liss was all right and still fighting even if she'd lost her power for right now. But a big part of her wished she could know where Liss was and find some way to help her…

* * *

The seashell-like tip of Undine's spear stabbed deep into the recesses of Trideka's cloak, but slid uselessly off some unseen armor over the dark fighter's chest. Without a word Trideka's scythe flashed out at the monster's head, but the mermaid-like creature gracefully swam through the air out of Trideka's reach, then suddenly swam mockingly in a circle around Trideka's arm and smacked her on the back of her black hood with a fin while swimming away.

Undine gave a bubbling laugh as she swam into the air away from her surprised enemy, but it turned into a gurgling screech of pain as Trideka went shooting past her and raked her scythe along the Mythos's back as she went, filling the air with sparks and drops of blackness.

With a scream Undine turned and pointed her spear at Trideka and a whirlpool of blue power surged from its tip at the dark Rider. It washed over Trideka who was pushed back two steps, but then she planted her boots and a dark yellow light that somehow seemed defiant ignited in the eye sockets of Trideka's skull-shaped mask.

She stomped through the waves of energy, shoulders into the force of the whirlpool's current. Trideka lashed out with her scythe and knocked the tip of the spear away from her, a trail of black smoke with the outlines of screaming skulls trailing behind her gleaming blade.

"You listen good, because I know you can hear me," she snarled. "Give up on these pitiful ideas you have of how powerful you've become because this… _thing_ gave you a taste of something greater. Everything succumbs to death in the end."

A grating laugh echoed from the screens floating above the park as the Warlock heard her declaration and replied. "Or is it that you and your master are afraid to admit there's something in the universe that resists even you?" his snake-like face somehow seemed to sneer. "And that that something was able to get the better of even the likes of you and your fabled Tarock? The Dark Mother has reformed and she grows stronger every day! I have stripped Tarock of her powers and turned them against her people! Only those who swear themselves to the Order of Shining Darkness will still see when the Mother rises again and blots the skies!"

Undine suddenly plowed into Trideka and knocked her off-balance and staggering, then knocked Trideka down with a powerful slap to the back with her tailfin. Laughing her bubbling laugh again, the Mythos ascended into the air and started flying toward the roller coaster in the distance. The car continued to careen around the track, the operators apparently having fled when the monsters attacked.

Her spear crackled and daggers of ice shot at the track, gouging the metal. Undine charged for another attack to smash through the track when suddenly she heard a deathly dry voice from the ground

" **Chains of Damnation**!"

Tendrils of dark smoke curled up from the edge of Trideka's scythe and seemed to grab at Undine's tail. As she tried to wriggle free the smoke formed into hands, and then hands attached to the bodies of people with wailing mouths and empty eye sockets

" _No-one_ escapes us," Trideka called up in challenge.

* * *

Liss pulled Shift Runner to a stop at the base of the evil black tree, and a second later Uthar stopped behind her on the strange motorcycle he said he'd gotten from his city's weapon designers. Instead of metal its frame looked to be made of some kind of dark gray crystal if she looked at it from just off-center. The fairing was decorated with the image of a sword, and the bike had a twisted mass of exhaust pipes sticking out the back that shot colorful sparks he'd accelerated hard trying to keep up with her. As impressive as his bike might turn out to be, he was clearly still getting used to it.

The trunk to the giant black tree, as wide as the base of a skyscraper, was honeycombed with wide circular openings that looked like they led inside. Uthar produced a clear red crystal on the end of a short metal rod from a pouch on his belt and a beam of light shone from the tip. He pointed into the darkness of one of the holes. It reached up into the heights of the tree, but then he stepped back and looked up at just how far it reached into the sky.

"Do you really think you can climb all the way to the top of that?" he asked.

"I can't fly even when I have my powers," Liss answered, thinking a little jealously of her old rivals-turned-allies Ven and Donis, who could. But they'd lost their powers for good helping Liss fight the awesome Manticore Mythos, and couldn't have helped even if they were there.

As the thought left her mind there was a sound like huge rocks grinding together and another opening appeared in the tree's trunk. Peering cautiously inside they saw a flight of rough stairs rising up into the tree.

Or whatever it really was.

"I'd say that's an invitation," Uthar mumbled. "We're not really going up that way, are we?"

"Would it make any difference?" Liss replied. "He obviously knows we're here. He probably wants to kill me while everyone watches."

Uthar gave her a curious look. "You seem awfully sure."

"It's what these guys always do," Liss said with a shrug. "Besides, he's got all those screens set up that let him talk to the whole park after he made those monsters from my cards. He obviously wants to make a show out of this." Then she walked into the door way in the tree.

He shook his head before he followed. He would've preferred having his reinforcements from back home with him, but if Warlock knew they were there, maybe going in alone would work in their favor. Maybe he was already making the mistake of underestimating them…

Once they were out of sight a female voice came from the shadows. "They're walking right into a trap, and this Warlock has the powers of a Mythos as well as an Arcanum.

A minute later another female voice answered. "I know. So do they, and still they enter."

"And still you want to go through with this?"

"Yes," the second said, slower and a bit labored. "This is where I'm going to die."

* * *

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt…**

 **(Uthar and Liss climb the steps into darkness)**

 **Warlock: Tonight the legend of Tarock ends…**

 **(Tarock battles Warlock in Pentacles armor but is blasted back to normal and lies battered)**

 **Uthar: This is not the Tarock I thought.**

 **(Mallory Quinn and Ivan Tawanovitch watch as battle rages through the park and Tarock and Warlock fight on the floating screens)**

 **Ivan: Let him put his faith in this power of his own, see where that gets him.**

 **(Tarock stands in a new regal suit of dark purple armor and carrying a silver scepter topped with a purple jewel)**

 **Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope everyone has safe and happy holidays!**


	3. Reading 28: Dawn of a New Era

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Twenty-Eight: Dawn of a New Era  
**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

After Lost's capture, Liss returned to Earth to collect herself and try to work out a way to save her friend from the leader of the Mythos. While taking a night off to visit an amusement park with friends she was attacked and her form cards stolen by a new agent of the Mythos, Ivan Tawanovitch. He delivered them to another Mythos commander who created four monsters based on the elemental power of each card and turned them loose on the park.

Other Riders who'd joined the fight because of her example took on these monsters while Liss and Uthar, a soldier from the Sphere, entered the lair of a powerful Mythos commander called the Warlock, knowing he was aware of their presence…

* * *

A few blocks away the sound of titanic punches landing and small buildings crumbling started to become louder, and closer. Kelly Hunt peered out the window of her apartment and could see Rampart and Golem grappling two blocks away before Rampart lifted his enemy overhead and slammed him to the ground. A second later something was sent flying by the impact and cracked the window Kelly was looking out.

She gasped in surprise and fell down as she tripped over a footrest. "Paige!" she screamed. " _We have to get out of here!_ "

Her partner sat at their small kitchen table, silently sipping coffee. Paige had said nothing for the past ten minutes as the two giants fought back and forth and sounds of an awesome battle came from the edge of town as well.

"I can't," Paige said softly. "I can't leave."

"Paige, I have put up with a lot for the sake of this relationship, but—"

"It sounds like the end of the world out there," Paige interrupted, "and I know my crazy little sister's probably right there in the middle of it. She's out there fighting the things doing this, Kelly. Just like that guy out the window. Hell, they probably know each other. I can't leave, because I'd be running away from everything Liss has been accomplishing. She went from a delinquent to…this. And I think she's the only one who can stop these monsters, or whatever they are."

Kelly sighed and looked long and hard at the front door. "We're gonna have a long talk after this is over," she said.

"I know," Paige said. "And I'll be ready for it."

She was right, though, Paige had to admit. Paige had met Kelly before they were even out of school. She'd resisted when she started to feel things about Kelly that weren't normal, but Kelly had figured it out, accepted Paige for it and given her her space until Paige was ready to talk it over.

Paige had left her family over it when they'd found out. It had been hard, even with parents like hers, but this was something she wanted to build a future around.

And then her crazy little sister had found out about a war with monsters and rushed in face-first.

To a certain degree, Paige was proud of her sister. Liss had been planning on ditching school as soon as she could line up some way of providing for herself, which probably wouldn't have been anyone's definition of legitimate. But apparently Liss had gone and made herself into some kind of superhero her old kung-fu teacher always talked about.

Paige had left her family behind because her father hadn't been healthy for her. But as something else ricocheted off the windowpane, she had to wonder how healthy Liss was for her.

* * *

The hollow echo down the stairs every time his boot hit another of the stone stairs made Uthar shiver with unease. He'd put his life on the line plenty of times, and that was before the Mythos had reappeared. But this place…something about it was _wrong_. He expected it to seem that no matter how far they climbed they never reached the top, but it had only been about ten minutes since they started walking up the stairs into something five hundred feet high and already he could see a light that he hoped was the top.

"Tarock?" he asked.

"My name's Liss."

"All right, Liss," he said, a bit slowly as he digested her name. "Does it seem like we're getting to the top a lot faster than we should be?"

Cautiously she answered, "Yeah. That confirms it."

"You mean, how this means Warlock knows we're here and is leading us into some kind of trap."

Liss nodded.

He kept following her up the stairs in silence, even as he knew he was out of his league with neither he nor the great Tarock herself having any of her vaunted powers as they walked straight into a monster's lair. The answer, Uthar supposed absently, was that he had to _know_.

The Tarock he'd been expecting to find when he came to this world, the one who'd been everywhere except in his city of Avalon helping to defend his people, and who'd even gone to help defend the insular city of Mazones when he'd been in need of powerful help, wasn't the one he'd found. Instead it was a girl who'd concocted a plan to keep other people calm out of the way of danger, strange as it had been, and was now walking into an obvious trap hoping she could regain her powers and join the battle.

Had Tarock known where she was needed the most somehow, and always made a point to be there? Uthar had been angry with her about how many more lives might have been saved if she had been in Avalon helping its defenders, but he was starting to wonder now how many more lives might have been lost if she hadn't been where she'd been.

"Hey," Liss said, distracting him. "Why'd you act surprised when I said my name?"

"It was my mother's name, and my sister was named after her."

"Oh," Liss said. "Is that a regular name on the Sphere, then? I mean…it isn't the name my parents gave me. I made it up myself."

Curious with the rest of his image of this girl falling away already, Uthar climb up beside her. "Why did you do that?"

She sighed, but answered. "I did it after my dad kicked my sister out of the family. I didn't really feel like being the person my parents wanted me to be after that. So I changed my name to something that sounded more like the kind of person I wanted to be."

"And what kind of person was that?"

"Someone who was in charge of her own life," Liss said, then looked over at him. "But what about you? You never said what you were doing here. When you showed up you acted surprised or something when you saw me. And even when you found out I was going to go and get my powers back."

He pondered his answer for a minute. "I came to see where the great Tarock was while the Mythos tore my city apart and killed the Arcanum who guarded our gates.

Liss's face fell slightly. "You mean that giant rock guy who turns into a tower?...I'm sorry."

"These are terrible times," Uthar answered her. "Sentos wasn't the only one. And it sounds like you were closer to the heart of all this than I thought."

Liss didn't reply. The opening at the top of the stairs was right above them. For better or worse, they emerged into the room above.

* * *

The monster's wind-bladed sword pushed back against Vaga's Warder as he tried to strike her with all his strength, and again it was deflected without even touching her. Djinn suddenly flew high into the air and the tornado engulfing her body doubled in size, then she came screaming back down like a missile.

" **Vaga Nova!** " he yelled as he quickly gathered his energy for his ultimate attack. He punched three points in the air and a glowing green triangle formed before blasting a column of energy straight up at the tip of the end of the tornado. There was a blinding green explosion and when Vaga could see again Djinn was spinning away from him. She crashed into the ground and there was an awesome rush of wind that cut against his armor like knives.

Then out of a cloud of dust and debris came Djinn, giving off a scream like a piercing, icy gale as she charged at him across the devastated ground.

" **Vaga Punch!** " He swung his fist at Djinn's torso and to his amazement felt it connect with something underneath the rushing wind and blast her backward a few feet. In the split second he had to come up with a new angle of attack against this monster who just kept coming no matter what he threw at her, suddenly three metal grenades came arcing through the air and fell into the cone of the tornado around Djinn's waist. They exploded one after another and wisps of yellow smoke drifted up and engulfed Djinn's face. She coughed and leaned back, seeming dazed, and not about to let such an opening slip by Vaga charged up to her and landed a fierce jump kick to her chest that sent her spinning away.

But with Djinn out of his face for the moment Vaga turned around to see who'd thrown the grenades and came face-to-face with a group of ten or so people in bright yellow uniforms, silvery chest harnesses with a yellow crystal in front of the left shoulder, and blank silver full-head masks. Coming up behind them, each carrying a round shield with a star carved into the front, were a similar number of people in green uniforms.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Vaga demanded. It had been too soon after he'd almost been killed by a tornado for him to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

One of the yellow-uniformed soldiers saluted him. "Cups Corps and Pentacles Corps, reporting for duty, sir," she said

"Sir?" Vaga asked suspiciously even as Djinn recovered and came charging at them again. "I have no idea who you people even are!"

Clouds of dust pelted them and pieces of stone debris as long as swords flew through the air, one skimming the side of Vaga's head. The soldiers in green jumped between him and Djinn, brandishing their shields. Their reflective surfaces flashed and it was as if an invisible wall had appeared, blocking them off from Djinn's bombardment.

"If you guys want to help, keep her in one place. And do you guys have any more of those grenades to soften her up with while I change?" Vaga said.

"Something even better than those, right boys?" the yellow-suited soldier said, looking over his shoulder at the others, who chuckled.

"Whatever you got, get it out now," Vaga replied. " **Change Trosik!** " His armor turned a bright blue and from somewhere the four quarters of a golden disc flew together and connected on his chest.

The green Pentacles Corps surrounded Djinn, and whenever she charged and tried to break through their line one of them would jump in her way and repulse her with his shield. Every time the soldier was sent flying as Djinn was knocked backwards but another jumped up to take his place.

Behind them the yellow Cups Corps held their hands up the crystal on their harness and a pyramid-shaped crystal appeared. As they moved into position, Vaga could only think of one thing.

"Liss…hang in there, I'll be there soon."

* * *

Suddenly lights burst from the ceiling as Liss and Uthar reached the top, and both went into a fighting stance as they waited anxiously for their eyes to adjust.

No attack came. No monster appeared to claw them to bits, no shots fired from the walls to cut them down. Instead after the light cleared the pair of them saw themselves standing in what looked like an executive's office with a medieval castle influence. There was a wide glass window along the back wall, with large stone blocks making up the floor and walls. By the window was a carved wooden desk with feet of rounded wooden balls and long, snake-like dragons across the front and sides. Light came from iron torches hanging from sconces in the walls.

Sitting at the desk was Carl Stanford, in a rough approximation of his human form Liss had seen at the concert. He wore a dark gray suit and glasses and his skin wasn't green and covered in scales, but when he smiled his mouth was far too wide, like an alligator's waiting for just the right moment to snap open and devour its prey. Inside his teeth were like two rows of needles, and his eyes were yellow and slitted like some kind of animal who only saw them as something to destroy.

Behind him was a clear crystal block, each side sporting a crystal arm holding up one of Liss's form cards that glowed with light. Except the Card of Wands in the back, almost as if their host was hoping she wouldn't notice…

"Good evening, Tarock!" Stanford said, his voice still registering a slight hiss. "I see you brought a guest to our meeting. Not terribly polite, but let's not start this off on the wrong foot."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Uthar demanded before Liss had the chance.

Stanford grinned. "The future, of course!" he said, and as he did the scene was transferred all throughout the amusement park on the giant floating screens he'd created before. "Tonight, the Order of Shining Darkness rises! The Dark Mother grows in strength every day! You tried to thwart her reformation, but our new Mother is an observant and forgiving being. When she ascends and the darkness falls across this world and the Sphere, she has agreed to extend the offer to grant new sight even to _you_."

Liss's eyes darted to the crystal block in the back of the room, wondering if she stood a chance of getting to it before Stanford could stop her, and what he might have at his disposal to stop her if she tried. "So you guys have your own cult now, huh?" she asked, trying to keep him distracted.

Stanford shook his head but still smiled, deflecting her scorn with his noble façade. " _Cult_ is such an ugly word, a base word. You've seen for yourself the power our Mother possesses, Tarock. How many times did you escape an encounter by the skin of your teeth?"

" 'The Mother' is too good a name for that thing. The White Lady was too good a name for that thing," Liss snarled back. "She almost destroyed the Sphere and did it to kidnap some poor dumb kid whose life was a living hell thanks to that 'Mother' of yours."

But still Stanford was unfazed. "Her name told you everything, though, didn't it? She was lost and confused, unsure of her purpose and running away from that intimidated her, but something great. She has become part of the Dark Mother again, and now she grows strong. Soon she'll be strong enough to cover whole worlds with her influence again, and rescue all us poor folk from the evils of our condition. Old age, disease, death, disability, the dangers our own kind pose to each other in such a confused, avaricious world.

"This attack on the park is a regrettable but necessary show of power, to demonstrate we are more than a lowly _cult_ , as you put it so well," Stanford went on, then turned to Liss. "But you need no such demonstrations, do you, Tarock? When the Dark Mother ascends she will even be willing to allow you to see in the darkness, and in her generosity she may even bestow that same gift on your friend here." Stanford held out a hand indicating Uthar, showing long yellow claws in place of fingernails.

Uthar made a sound of disgust, "You're out of your mind."

"I'm not taking any offer from her," Liss replied, and after Stanford's eyes were on her she noticed Uthar surreptitiously drawing something from his belt.

"What will it take to change your mind? I've got quite the influence, you know," Stanford said, with the most infuriating grin on his face Liss had ever seen, "Just for starters, how would you like to see your own action figure?"

Liss scoffed at his offer. "Now you're just screwing with me. Why the hell should I believe anything you're trying to sell me about your bitch boss giving me a spot in her little _cult_?"

Stanford shook his head, like he'd been expecting this, which he probably had, but had been holding out hope. "You know, she left me in charge of this, let me arrange everything here, showing how vulnerable you were against your own species and the wisdom of joining us…because she thought you might be more willing to hear it coming from another human." He scowled viciously and the skin on his face started to fall off in strips, revealing serpentine scales underneath. "I was hoping you might prove yourself something above the rest of your… _kind_."

Stanford's long white staff appeared in his hand but even as it did Uthar was lunging at him, holding a blue metal baton. The end of the baton connected with Stanford's chest and there was a flash of light. Stanford was flung through the air and landed heavily on his back.

Liss rushed over to the crystal block where her cards were being held, but Stanford brandished his staff and a low, menacing voice came from the crystal on the top.

" **Shock.** "

A bolt of lightning ripped from the staff and struck Liss. She screamed and fell to the floor, smoke rising from her duster. Stanford stood up and from nowhere his cloak dropped over his shoulders and the last of the fake flesh fell from his body revealing the snakelike monstrosity underneath. He had become the Warlock again, and Liss had a feeling he intended it to be the final transformation.

Uthar jabbed at Warlock again but this time the Mythos calmly raised his staff and parried Uthar's weapon. Warlock slapped the crystal on the tip against Uthar's chest and a web of crackling energy exploded across Uthar's body and hurled him across the room.

Surprisingly Uthar managed to roll onto his stomach, gasping and grunting in pain, and struggled to get his feet on the ground to get up and attack again. Warlock's cane spoke again: " **Bind.** " Strands of thick iron chain shot from the crystal and coiled around Uthar's arms, egs and neck, then their ends sank into the floor, pinning him.

"People speak too highly of last acts of defiance," Warlock somehow hissed and sighed at the same time. He leveled his staff at Uthar and its crystal started shine.

"No…" Liss gasped, just regaining enough feeling to awkwardly try to get to her feet. Her eyes darted to her cards, a good fifteen feet away. Even if she could get to one and change, even with the speed of her Wands Form she'd never be able to stop the shot.

Liss fastened the Fate Driver on her waist anyway and lunged for Warlock as a desperate plan entered her mind. She focused her thoughts on the Fate Driver, trying to get it to activate even without a card. Her body tingled and turned black just before she grabbed Warlock's staff.

" **Char.** "

She yanked it upward and the fireball that shot from the tip exploded against the ceiling and peppered them with dust and debris. But the gurgle of surprise from Warlock had nothing to do with that.

Standing over him was Tarock, covered just in her black undersuit but the yellow lenses over her eyes seemed to glow with anger. She felt stronger, faster, even like this, but it was only a fraction of what she'd have even in her weakest form.

"Do you really think you can take me on with such pitiful power?" Warlock asked with disdain. "I was your better even when you had your entire arsenal, remember? I'll crush you!"

"I've heard that from your boss, too. I got a new eye out of that, and I'm kind of starting to like it," Tarock said with sarcastic amusement. "Wonder what present you guys'll end up giving me next."

She lashed out with a kick and Warlock jumped back with surprising agility. As he did his staff charged for another attack. " **Mob.** " Two identical Warlocks appeared on either side of him. Then another two next to them. Then another two. And then they advanced on Tarock.

* * *

Before, the only emotion she'd shown was amusement as she mocked Trideka, but now Undine seemed to scream without sound. Tendrils made of smoke but that showed the faces of tortured souls coiled around her fish-like tail and pulled her down, closer to Trideka, no matter how hard she struggled or slashed at them with her spear. The shell-point somehow went right through them even as they held onto Undine herself with an unbreakable grip.

Clenching her teeth with fear Undine pointed her spear at Trideka and a whirlpool ripped from the tip and washed over Trideka, but the dark Rider just dug in her boots and let the waves wash over her. Her black cloak was tossed about in the currents and her hood was whipped back by the force of the whirlpool, exposing a skull-like underneath, an angry yellow light pouring from the eye sockets. Trideka pulled back with her scythe, dragging Undine even closer to her.

She paid no attention to the cracks already forming in her armor, seeping white light.

"There's no escape for you, Stanford," Trideka said as Undine was dragged closed enough to strike, and she knocked the monster out of the air with a wicked slash from her scythe. "If I'm not the one to cut you down, Tarock will, and if not her then another. But know this: if you hadn't covered yourself in that power you're so proud of, the power of this Dark Mother…wherever your soul ended up, at least it would still be your own."

Undine tried to push herself back into the air but Trideka charged up and brutally sliced her across the back and knocked her to the asphalt again. "This is death. You fight, you consume, and your precious Mother may outlast entire worlds. But even she's vulnerable."

A forboding voice spoke from her belt: " **Dark Reaping.** " A cold while shine passed over the gleaming blade of her scythe, and then she swung it in arc at Undine. The Mythos raised her golden spear to try and block the attack but Trideka's blade cut right through it before cutting right through her. Undine split apart and dissolved into smoke.

With her enemy destroyed Trideka turned to the dark tree towering over the park, and held out her free hand. " **Charge Wraith, Arise!** " spoke her belt and black smoke issued from her palm but then thinned and disappeared.

A groan of pain escaped her throat and the light behind her mask went out. Cracks were spreading all over her armor. Her power was already too much for her mortal body. As Trideka felt herself fading away to the next world, she had time to say, if only to herself, "I tried to come to you, Liss. Fight on, survive until Master Mortis sends me to your side again…"

And then in a puff of black smoke she was gone.

* * *

In Warlock's fortress the light on the Card of Cups went out, but no-one noticed. Tarock had grabbed the nearest Warlock copy and thrown him against another with both of them going sprawling, but the rest of them had split up to avoid the attack and were aiming their staffs at her while circling around to box her in.

" **Burst** ," five of the staffs spoke at once. Thin energy rays blasted from them at Tarock, who dodged back and forth to avoid the shots even as one singed against her shoulder through what little armor she had, and another ripped past her ankle, sending her to her knees. With an angry yell she grabbed the staff out of the clawed fingers of the nearest Warlock and thrust it straight into his scaly face. He croaked in surprise and went down, and even before he hit the floor she rammed the tip of his own staff through his heart. The Warlock didn't explode into smoke, simply flickering and disappearing along with the weapon Tarock had finished him off with.

And behind a wall of black crystal two figures watched, unseen, as the battle unfolded. One was Mallory Quinn, a teenage girl with long red hair in a black leather jacket and an uncertain look on her face. She'd been the one who invited Liss and Ben to park, where they'd been led into a trap by the man beside her.

Ivan Tawanovitch, a huge, burly man with a blond crewcut who looked like the heavy of a by-the-book action movie. He crossed his arms and chuckled to himself as Tarock destroyed another two copies of Warlock with a kick in each of their faces.

"Shouldn't we help Carl?" Mallory asked and looked up at Ivan uncertainly, almost as if she was afraid he'd attack her for asking. He didn't. Instead he just smirked.

Warlock's staff flashed and a disc of energy formed above Tarock who dove out of the way in time for it to just clip her heel before crashing down on the ground before it could pin her.

Ivan answered her, "He's so proud of the secrets he learned in all his old books, and the power he got from that crystal, over what the Mother gave him. He set all this up, let him see it through."

"But…"

"The elite are expected to stand on their own two feet, little girl," Ivan said, warningly. "And that's what you are, believe it or not. An elite."

Mallory stepped back and faded into the darkness, and a second later Ivan did the same.

Tarock ripped the staff out of the hands of the Warlock facing her and with all her strength kicked him across the room and through a wall into the air. The staff in her hands disappeared after a few seconds, but already she was throwing herself at another two of the monsters and tackled them to the floor.

" **Char.** "

" **Grav.** "

A fireball ripped through the air behind Tarock and blew her through the air, burning away parts of her thin undersuit, the only armor the Fate Driver by itself could give her. As soon as she'd landed in a heap on the floor a crushing weight pressed down on her back and pinned her.

The group of Warlocks closed in on her again, one of them speaking, "The human race is so proud of their achievements. Cities, weapons, supply chains…taming the world to suit its own conveniences. They simply cannot accept that there are forces greater than themselves in the universe. That they'd be better served knowing when submission will extend their lives. Allow me to give them such a lesson."

* * *

All over Marvel Land, the parkgoers looked up to watch in horror as Tarock was being crushed into the floor by a disc of force. She screamed as it pressed down harder and started to pound her fists against the ground.

As the soldiers continued to hold Djinn at bay, Vaga looked up at the scene and couldn't believe his eyes. Liss panicking and throwing a tantrum? It wasn't possible.

Angelo looked up in disbelief as Tarock, his prize pupil, pounded her fists against the ground, contorting helplessly. Virginia and the others at the concert stage had stopped listening to L-Mitless's music, and the band themselves had stopped singing and could only stare at the screen above them showing Tarock being ground into the floor.

Warlock seemed to grin as he increased the power of the gravity disc that had Tarock trapped. Uthar grunted and strained against the chains that still bound him to the floor, unable to believe what he was seeing like everyone else in range of Warlock's screens. He'd expected someone who was willing to risk their life in battle with enemies as powerful as the Mythos to face death with dignity, not crying and beating their fists in useless rage when they couldn't escape their end.

But then he noticed something that seemed to have escaped Warlock's notice.

Tarock's fists had actually beaten indentations into the floor a few inches deep. When they hit the floor again, suddenly she took advantage of the room she'd made for her hands and brought her fists up in a hard, deliberate strike at the very edge of the gravity disc. It tilted up with the other side tilting down and grinding against the ground giving off sparks. Just enough room was created underneath it for Tarock to tuck her legs against her chest and roll onto her back, and lash out with both feet at the center of the disc.

It shattered like a pane of glass, huge transparent chunks flying all over the room. Uthar winced as one spun toward him before disappearing just in time.

Warlock sputtered in surprise, but Tarock didn't wait for him to recover before she lunged for the block where her cards were being kept. Her body still tingling with pain, she reached out a trembling hand and grabbed the cards of Cups and Wands, the only ones that looked safe to touch. And as quickly as she could Tarock slammed the Card of Cups into her Fate Driver.

" **Cups Suit!** " it announced, and the words had never sounded as reassuring. The glowing card shape drifted down over Tarock forming her yellow Cups armor over her singed undersuit. Immediately she aimed her Sea Hand at him. " **Dire Fate! Frost Gatling!** " She blasted long daggers of ice at Warlock and his remaining copies, again and again, creating a cloud of roiling steam and ice chips as they fired heat beams from their staffs trying deflect Tarock's relentless attack.

After a minute she couldn't keep it up anymore and leaned against a wall. The cloud created by the destructive exchange of power soon cleared and there stood Warlock, alone again but covered in a bubble of energy that had kept him in one piece. It flowed back into the crystal on his staff, and he fixed Tarock with a disdainful stare.

"Cute," he hissed, "but even after all that, here I am."

"And you're still ignoring how willpower and some clever application got me out of that one," Tarock replied and leveled her Sea Hand at him. "Let's dance."

* * *

Back in town, Golem reeled from a blow Rampart had landed on his head and then was knocked down and went sliding across the ground from a punch to his rocky midriff. Golem crashed into the corner of an old building with a long-abandoned luxury car showroom on the bottom floor. With a roar of brick on brick the building toppled over on him, burying Golem in rubble.

"Now's my chance," Rampart thought, looking up for just a second at one of the screens in the distance where he could see Tarock had managed to shift into one of her armoreds form and was fighting back against the Warlock. A reassured smile formed behind his mask. It was indeed the time to strike.

" **Dire Fate! Shed Assail**!" said his buckle, and his giant suit of armor crouched and then launched into the air. When it was directly above Golem, who'd just managed to get to his feet, one huge brick fell from around the middle of Rampart's giant suit of armor. It struck Golem's forearm and sliced his hand clean off

Before Golem could escape another pair of bricks fell, and before those had even hit the ground they were followed by five more, glowing yellow and blue as they fell and pelting Golem like bombs. The bricks exploded as they made contact and blew pieces off of Golem's body.

Faster and faster they fell, seeming to glow brighter and explode with more force as each one bombarded Golem, blowing off hunks of arms and legs. Within another minute there was a final blast as the last brick landed right on top of Golem's torso and exploded in a column of orange light that could be seen all the way to the fringes of Marvel Land.

Rampart landed on the edge of the smoldering hole where Golem had been, and with his enemy destroyed he looked up at the screen showing Tarock locked in battle with Warlock, and blocking a swing from Warlock's crackling staff on her elbow that almost hit Uthar, who was still chained to the floor.

Rampart broke into a run.

* * *

Warlock's staff flashed out and the crystal smacked against Tarock's Sea Hand, shattering the jetted gauntlet. Then the crystal crackled with electricity before he swung again and caught her across the chest. Bolts of energy raced over her body and Tarock screamed, falling back.

Right then the light around the Card of Pentacles winked out. Tarock managed to get to her feet and staggered over to it, grabbed it and loaded it into her belt. " **Pentacles Suit!** " Thick green armor formed on her body, filling her again with overpowering strength. Maybe her fight with Warlock was starting to wear on her, but it wasn't as much power as she was sure she remembered. Not the time to get hung up on feelings, though.

" **Calamity! Temblor Punch!** " Her fist glowed with power and she punched at Warlock, but he seemed to fade away from in front of her and reappear behind, hitting her across the shoulders with his electrified staff. Tarock gasped in pain and staggered forward, then swept her hand in front of her belt and in a golden flash the Gran Crusher, her massive warhammer, was in her hands.

"You think that gigantic weapon of yours frightens me?" Warlock asked, drawing his robe in front of him in fake fear, then he laughed.

Tarock said nothing. Instead she slapped the Royal Core hanging on her belt. " **Coronation! Knight of Pentacles!** " said her Fate Driver and an imposing figure in dark green armor appeared across the room from her with Warlock in the middle. Tarock swung her hammer at Warlock's head but he ducked under it with ease and jabbed her in the stomach with his crackling staff. Warlock turned and faced Knight in time to jump over a swing at his legs with the armored warrior's hammer.

But suddenly Knight let go of his hammer and it went skidding across the floor. While Warlock's eyes were still on that, Knight grabbed him in a powerful bear hug.

" **Dire Fate! Grand Impact!** " Tarock's hammer glowed bright green as she swung it with all her might at Warlock, who went flying forward through Knight's body which shattered into green fragments. Warlock spun drunkenly through the air until he collided with the wall.

Then he got right up and seemed to sneer at Tarock, apparently unhurt.

"How—?" Tarock sputtered.

"I think you'd have remembered better," Warlock said. "I was leagues above you even before, but now…you saw how I created Mythos from your own precious cards. You think that wasn't a strain on their powers? Right now I'd estimate they're at about forty-five percent strength…you see, _little girl_ , your friends might stop our forces out there in that park, but even if they do, they were spread out so far they'll never get here in time to help their weakened champion. I win again."

" **Char** ," his staff said and a fireball that seemed even bigger than the ones he'd fired before roared through the and blasted into Tarock. She flew into the air, pieces of green armor flying from her body. She slammed into the far wall, leaving a crater, and rolled to a stop on the floor. Her armor shattered, leaving a battered Liss.

Warlock closed in for the kill, and Uthar's chains groaned as he struggled with all his might to pull free.

* * *

The strands of energy running through the soldiers who were keeping Djinn confined burned white for a second as the ones in yellow charged the pyramid-shaped crystals in their hands. The crystals exploded and huge clouds of water vapor erupted from them, and at the same time the temperature around them plummeted.

The clouds of vapor around Djinn solidified, forming into a giant ice crystal. Inside the tornado surrounding Djinn kept spinning and slowly chipping away at the ice. Obviously it wouldn't hold her for long.

"Sir?" asked the leader of the yellow Cups soldiers, an edge of nervousness to her words. "What are your orders? That was our best shot…"

But Vaga had no orders. All he could think of was that tree-fortress in the distance, and Liss fighting for her life against an evil wizard inside.

She was strong. Stronger than Vaga would ever be, even with a power like his Trosik form.

Vaga saw through the strands of power running beneath the ground, all the way up to Warlock's fortress, where Liss lay on the floor, weakened and helpless while Warlock glowed like a star as he gathered his power and then stabbed Liss with the tip of his staff. Her body jerked and spasmed horribly from the power, and Warlock just started to glow as he charged his power again.

Vaga screamed in rage, his cry echoing off the buildings still standing around them and cracking the ice crystal holding Djinn. A sudden clarity came over Vaga, and he saw the lines carrying their bits of power running under everything, but suddenly they looked like strings. Strings to be _pulled_.

He reached down and grabbed two handfuls of these strings running through Djinn's body, then pulled. The golden disc on Vaga's chest spun until it was a golden blur. Djinn thrashed around inside the ice and opened her mouth wide as if screaming in pain, but Vaga only pulled harder. This monster was keeping him from being at Liss's side, and giving her what little help he could. It had to be destroyed.

" **ROTA…Render!** " Vaga yelled at the top of his lungs and pulled the strings in opposite directions with all his strength. The ice crystal cracked down the middle, freeing Djinn, but she stayed where she was, held there by Vaga. Suddenly a glowing yellow tear formed at the top of her forehead and raced down her body, and in the next second she exploded into puffs of air.

But as she did Vaga was blown backwards too. In a flash his armor was gone and Ben landed in a heap, his eyes glowing bright yellow with the power he'd wielded for a few seconds after he landed. He propped himself up on his arms and tried to survey the area, but everything was a blur of colored blobs after changing back so forcefully.

Ben focused on a tall black spire in the distance that could only have been Warlock's fortress. He reached out for it with a quivering hand as blackness started to flood the edges of his vision.

"Liss, I'm sorry…I let you down again," he groaned before he passed out.

* * *

Liss's body spasmed with electricity from Warlock's staff again and every fiber of her being screamed with pain, but beyond the edge of his cloak she could see the light surrounding the last of her cards go out.

Again Warlock stabbed at her stomach with his staff, but inches away from contact her leg flashed out and hit his ribs with a loud *CRACK* that made Uthar wince from where he was still chained to the floor. Liss jumped to her feet, her body quivering from all the punishment she'd been taking from Warlock and grabbed the haft of his staff, and tried to pull it away from him. Even with the inhuman strength of his Mythos form, he found himself struggling to pull it out of her grip.

"I suppose it's true," Warlock hissed. "In a way the stubborn refusal to accept your place in the universe is your kind's greatest strength. Not nearly great enough to elevate you out of your slimy…"

But he'd no sooner said that than Liss leaned back and her foot skidded on the floor and she was falling backward again, and as she did she twisted her body and rolled one way while Warlock rolled the other. The crystal on the staff brushed the links of a few of the chains pinning Uthar.

Warlock hissed in anger and held out his hand, and a mysterious force wrenched the staff away from Liss and back to his scaled fingers. He looked up as Liss dashed past and started to ready a fireball to end this farce once and for all, but suddenly Uthar came flying at him and tackled him to the floor again. A blast of fire ripped from the staff and flew backwards against the wall, exploding harmlessly but showering both of them with small flaming bits of debris.

Uthar paid no attention to the tiny flames landing on his uniform, focusing entirely on his far more powerful enemy. His weapon out of reach, Uthar just rained punches and blows from his elbows down on Warlock's face again and again. Small black nicks and cuts formed on Warlock's face and neck under Uthar's furious assault, when the Mythos hissed in rage and lashed out with glowing strikes of his reptilian talons. Trails of blood formed across Uthar's face and he cried in alarm as one leaked into his eye. Warlock shoved him off and called his staff back to his hand again.

" **Swords Suit! Coronation! Ace of Swords!** " he heard the Fate Driver call and turned to where he'd heard it. As he'd expected there stood Tarock in her red Swords armor, the Skycalibur in her hand already in its strengthened curved form with electricity dancing along its edge.

" **Bind** ," Walrock's staff announced before chains snaked from its end, the word sounding more urgent than ever as if it could sense how desperate Tarock was to end this fight.

" **Ace High! Thunder Cleave!** " A wave of crackling power jumped from Tarock's sword and smashed the chains as if they were only toothpicks. Most of its power was spent by the time the last edge burned into Warlock's chest.

" **Ace High! Thunder Cleave!** " Again electrical power ripped from Skycalibur, before Warlock had a chance to defend himself. Even as he blocked the wave against his staff it blew him across the floor until his back touched the wall.

" **Ace High! Thunder Cleave!** " said the Fate Driver as once again Skycalibur charged with power, but Tarock dashed across the room and shoved the blade against Warlock's staff with all her strength. Then the power ripped from Skycalibur in a blinding flash that sent both Tarock and Warlock flying backward. Tarock slid across the floor, but Warlock was blasted right through the wall, carried over the park by the force of Tarock's point-blank ultimate attack.

Uthar knelt by Tarock's side, planning to inspect her for injuries being seeing nothing through her armor. "Are you all right?" he asked instead.

"Did I get him?" Tarock groaned. Uthar answered by hooking her arm over his shoulders and helping her limp over to the new window she'd made with her attack. There was a figure on the ground a ways away covered in crackling yellow electricity, but as soon as they spotted him his body disintegrated into a cloud of blue smoke like so many other Mythos before him. It didn't blow away on the window like all those others, though, instead it spread and formed itself the shape of a giant demonic face with fanged teeth and curling horns sprouting from its head before finally fading away.

* * *

Silence descended over the park with Warlock's demise. Tarock reverted to normal and looked down at her cards, frowning at how they'd lost their colors, their golden emblems resting against gray. There was a small tingle of energy there, enough she was sure they'd regain their power eventually, but for now she could probably forget about being Tarock at all.

Uthar looked down at where Warlock had last stood before meeting his end. "So passes the Warlock, emissary of the Mythos," he said with a surprisingly solemn tone, placed his clenched fist over his heart and bowed lightly.

Liss stared at him. "Awfully respectful, isn't that," she said.

"It's supposed to be standard practice toward those brave enough to fight for their aims, even if they fought against our side," Uthar explained. "I hadn't done it in years, but…," he looked her in the face. "After tonight it suddenly seems appropriate to acknowledge valor when I see it."

"Perhaps things can change for the better after all, then," said a raspy voice from behind them. Uthar and Tarock both turned around, ready to fight, but instead of another Mythos they saw a pale-skinned woman with dark hair wearing a threadbare, practical gray gown with a smaller woman wearing a blank-visored helmet and two short swords strapped across her back beside the first. It was Empress Maeve of Mazones, and Thena, her aide.

"Long way from home, aren't you?" Uthar asked, a touch of suspicion in his words.

Maeve tried to walk closer to them, staggered and sank to one knee with a gasp. "I suppose," she replied. "But I hope you'll think it was worth the effort when you see what I came to bring." Maeve clutched her stomach while she reached out with her other hand, and Tarock walked over to meet her.

"What do you mean, what you came to bring?" Tarock asked, taking her hand and helping to her feet.

"It's a war zone out there," Maeve answered. "You have powerful allies, Tarock, but judging by tonight the stakes against you are only rising, you'll need all the power you can find before long. That is what I have come to bring you…power."

"What power?" As Liss asked Maeve seemed to lose the last of her strength and collapsed completely onto the stone floor. Thena stepped forward to try to help her but Maeve held up a hand to stop her.

The Empress explained, "I'm dying, Tarock. Apparently Arcana can do that as well," Maeve punctuated with a dry, tired laugh. "I believe the proper protocol is to appoint a successor before that happens. Even if my office is not exactly what I think you're suited for…"

"Tarock, something's happening!" Uthar called from the opening in the wall. She turned and looked and could see a shimmering mist in the air outside, quickly seeming to mingle together and solidify. Within seconds it had formed a giant skeletal shape, easily twelve feet high. Then another pair of arms sprouted from its spine, and a cold purple light that flickered like flames lit in the sockets of its eyes.

Its jaws clacked open and shut a few times, then it spoke in a loud echoing form of Warlock's voice: "You fight me, you strike me down, and still I rise again! My power is even greater now! Let me see how many times _you_ can rise again!" One giant skinless hand reached out and grabbed onto the trunk of the black tree, and he started to climb the tree up to the fortress.

"Oh god," Liss groaned, looking down at her gray form cards. Quickly she went over to where Maeve lay, drawing in ragged gasps of breath. "What do I have to do?" she asked.

"Just tell me one thing," Maeve replied, managing a weary smile. "What is your real name?"

"Liss Decker."

Maeve nodded and shut her eyes, seeming as if that simple act had brought her peace she'd been looking for a long time. "A strong name. I'm not at all surprised." She placed one hand against her chest, and her fingers suddenly sank into her body as if she was reaching into a pool of water. A second later she pulled it back out, holding a glowing purple crystal she offered to Liss. Her fingers trembling, Liss took it.

As soon as she had, Liss's false eye quivered in its socket for a second as something powerful took shape next to her. For a second she froze, expecting another attack, but she recognized a pale-skinned man in a black robe and hood, carrying a scythe with a chipped but gleaming silver blade. Smiling softly, reassuringly Liss thought it was meant to be, he offered his hand to Empress Maeve.

"Master Mortis," she said as she took it. "Somehow I thought I'd never see the day."

"I come personally for someone so long-lived," he said calmly, gently. "And if any does, today truly marks the end of one era, and the beginning of another."

Gently he helped Maeve, who stood with surprising ease considering her recent weakness. She looked at Liss with an encouraging smile, and Master Mortis gave Liss a measuring look, then a second later they were simply gone.

The ground shook as the new Mythos thumped and slid its giant, awkward tentacles along the ground to bring him closer to the fortress. Liss looked down at the crystal in her hand, unsure of how to harness its powers, and held it up in front of her Fate Driver as if that might provide the answer.

"Hold it near your Driver," Thena explained. "It should take on a more suitable form."

As if it had heard her, the buckle hummed and whirred for a second, a ray of light sweeping from the transparent dome in the middle and scanning over the crystal in Liss's hand. The crystal shimmered and changed into a flat card of a woman in a yellow robe, holding a golden scepter in one hand while a white shield with a Venus symbol on it rested at her feet.

The ground rumbled again, and without another moment's hesitation she loaded the card into her Driver.

" **Empress! Major!** " the Fate Driver seemed to scream.

A power unlike any she'd ever felt as Tarock rushed through Liss's body. Her black undersuit formed over her body and then a purple card shape, dominated by the symbol III appeared above her and floated down over her body, forming a purple mask with a golden ridge across the forehead with five golden spikes almost like a crown. A thick purple breastplate formed around her chest, the symbol III inscribed across the front in large golden letters, as well as across the armor on each shoulder. A short white cape hung from the back of her new armor down her waist.

Heavy white gauntlets with thick armored knuckles, decorated purple and with a purple streak running up to where the armor ended at her elbows appeared next. White boots of thick armor, also decorated with a purple stripe running up the front and then across both sides of the cuff.

Superhuman power of different sensations rushed through Tarock's body. Incredible strength, though not as great as her Pentacles form. But also awesome speed waiting to be unleashed.

" **kkrrrrttt…** " the Fate Driver hummed, and thin streams of smoke rose from the card slot. " **Arm of the Empire!** " A mass of purple energy jumped from the crystal ball in the Fate Driver and into her right hand, tingling and racing up and down her fingers for a few seconds before solidifying into a new weapon. It was dull silver scepter with a golden coil running up its foot-long haft, which led up into three golden prongs shaped like a dragon's talons that held a huge purple gemstone in place.

"Incredible…" Uthar breathed. "But are you still going to be able to fight?"

"Are you kidding?" Tarock relied. "I just caught my second wind." She walked past him with a powerful stride over to the opening in the hall, then looked down as Warlock kept climbing up at her. "Kamen Rider Tarock…Fighting fate!" Tarock screamed, then jumped off the edge and went into freefall. Warlock seemed to smile as she came shooting down at him.

* * *

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock Re-Dealt…**

 **(Tarock battles the skeletal Warlock, blazing away with purple beams of power as giant black tentacles flail around them)**

 **Warlock: You have new power but ours are boundless…strike me down and another will rise.**

 **(Warlock and Rampart both grab for a huge, rough black crystal that seems to make the area around it darker but is still somehow visible)**

 **Rampart: All these years and you know nothing of humanity's powers.**

 **(Liss drops a seed the size of her whole hand into the ground and a silver sapling appears)**

 **Liss: We can win, and this proves it.**

 **(The silver sapling shines a light on the huge black crystal, and everything goes white)**

 **Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.**

* * *

 **I'm sorry! Two chapters of endless fighting, and I'm having it drag out into yet another one! I just felt like this chapter was so crowded already, I felt like Liss's first battle in her new form needed its own space.**

 **Hope you're enjoying Liss return, even in spite of how shonen it's been with fight length!**


	4. Reading 29: Phoenix

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Twenty-Nine: Phoenix**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

After Lost's capture, Liss returned to Earth to collect herself and try to work out a way to save her friend from the leader of the Mythos. While taking a night off to visit an amusement park with friends she was attacked and her form cards stolen by a new agent of the Mythos, Ivan Tawanovitch. He delivered them to another powerful Mythos commander called the Warlock who created four monsters based on the elemental power of each card and turned them loose on the park.

Other Riders who'd joined the fight because of her example took on these monsters while Liss and Uthar, a soldier from the Sphere, entered the Warlock's lair and ultimately defeated him. But the Mythos are not defeated so easily and Warlock revived more monstrous than before. But armed with new powers of her own, Liss wasted no time joining him in battle again…

* * *

 **Quick note from the author: I altered the final scene to push what it was before back to the next chapter. If you've already read this, please check out the new scene before the meeting between Ivan and the Dark Mother.**

* * *

From all over Marvel Land people could see a blazing purple bolt falling to earth from the top of the ugly black tree at the edge of the park. It was Tarock, plummeting down at the giant skeleton Warlock had become with the light shining from her scepter glowing brighter and brighter the faster she came down. The Empress's power covered her, washed through her, seeped into her senses so she could see every seem and ridge in Warlock's bony frame. He was a formidable enemy, that was for sure, but at that moment Tarock felt like she could take on twenty of him.

He spread his arms wide to grab Tarock but the end of her new scepter rammed into his ribs and knocked him off the evil tree he'd been climbing up to get to her. A shockwave ripped through the air, making the fortress at the top tremble and rocks fall from the ceiling.

Another shockwave tore through the surrounding area as they crashed down and started to roll across the broken ground, Warlock pounding Tarock with his giant bone fists and Tarock striking back flailing her scepter like a mace and chipping off pieces of bone from his arms and ribs.

Finally she rammed the end of the scepter into Warlock's ribcage and a pulse of energy erupted from the end and blew Warlock away from her. He seemed to float in the air like some kind of evil marionette before landing with an impossible grace. Balls of fire formed in his fleshless hands that he slapped against the ground and a ring of fire formed around himself and Tarock like an arena.

"You clothe yourself in the Empress's power, but do you have any idea of its significance?" Warlock seemed to sneer even with his face nothing but a blank skull. "She was all her people had to inspire them as their world grew bleaker, thanks to the power of the Dark Mother…now the Empress is gone, are _you_ her replacement, Tarock?"

Tarock replied by yelling and dashing toward him, her new power seeming to carry her over the ground without touching it. Her scepter was aimed at the center of his ribs again, but he raised his hands as a shield and blocked her blow. There was a horrendous crunch and she was sure she'd seen a few fingerbones flying off as she pushed him back.

He was trying to get inside her head, like he'd been all night. First with creating monsters using her powers, then that crap about giving her a spot in his little _cult_. The Empress's death was heavy, but Tarock didn't have time to figure out everything that would happen or what it had to do with her. This had been a night of terror thanks to Warlock, and it was time for her to end it. They clashed again with Warlock blocking Tarock's next swing on a shield around his arm that seemed to be made of fire.

From the edge of the evil fortress Warlock had created overseeing the amusement park Uthar watched as a burst of white light went up. He shivered at the thought of how much power was being unleashed as a boom followed the flash of light and dust fell from the ceiling above him.

"We need to get out of here," the soldier said to Thena, who looked back at him impassively from behind her visor-less helmet.

"No," she replied with no emotion, giving no indication she was being affected by the fact that the ruler she'd served for centuries had died. "The true evil here must be found and disposed of."

"The true evil…? And you're saying the one Tarock's fighting now isn't it?"

"No," Thena said and walked briskly away. "He is not."

* * *

His knuckles still seemed to burn from the touch of the Ifrit Mythos. Obviously that was more from a few fractured fingers than the fires of a dead monster, but Angelo's mind wasn't on his injuries or on the monster he'd killed with his bare hands.

The only thought occupying Angelo was finding his daughter and making sure she hadn't gotten it into her head to go off and try to help Liss. He flinched every time he heard another explosion from the far side of Marvel Land, afraid of how close to it she might have snuck….

He followed the obvious indicators of the colorful strobe lights raking the sky and pounding girl band music from behind a few abandoned rides. To Angelo's surprise, even with the monsters apparently defeated and not keeping anyone from running away, a crowd was gathered in front of a stage where the lights came from and a quartet of young female singers were performing.

Hovering above the stage was a giant screen, and in it Angelo could see what looked Liss in her Kamen Rider armor fighting a four-armed skeleton twice her height. At least, it looked like her; the belt and the yellow eyes set into the mask were familiar, but the dark purple armor, cape and glowing scepter in her hand weren't. As he watched the skeleton formed a big net out of some kind of energy that flickered almost like fire and tried to throw it over Tarock, who caught it on her scepter and tossed it away.

She charged her enemy and hit him on the arm with her weapon, and there was a flash of purple light that filled the screen. At the same time Angelo could hear the sound of an explosion in the distance.

As it did the crowd yelled in excitement, drowning out the band's song for a second. In the ocean of arms raised in excitement at Tarock's battle Angelo could see a girl wearing a familiar jacket, underneath a head of coils of familiar dyed red hair.

The next thing Virginia knew her father was next to her and had seized her arm in an unbreakable grip.

"I thought I made it clear you were to stay away from any fights Liss got into," Angelo said, his voice low and menacing.

"What fight, exactly, are you saying I'm near?" Virginia grunted and tried to pull her arm free.

"Those monsters are gone, you can go somewhere safe now."

She frowned and yanked as hard as she could, but her father held tight. "I _am_ safe. And I'm showing my support for Liss, like you always tell the kids in class about doing."

"I sure didn't tell anyone about sticking around someplace you can hear explosions!" Angelo roared. People were turning to stare at them now, but Angelo glared back. "I'm her father! _And_ I'm the one who taught that _hero_ of yours how to fight!" he said, pointing up at the screen showing the battle.

"Why is it awesome if Liss does it, but not me?!" Virginia screamed, kicking Angelo in the thigh with the point of her foot. All that did was make her toes explode with pain, but Angelo stared at her in surprise and gave her the second she needed to yank her sore arm free.

Angelo glowered down at her. "It's different because _I'm_ your father and that's what _I_ tell you!"

"Is there a problem here?" asked a hulking man with a scraggly brown beard and wearing a black "SECURITY" t-shirt. He stood almost a foot taller than even Angelo, and didn't look impressed by Angelo's bloodied knuckles.

Virginia sighed before she answered him. For just a second she considered telling the guard she was being attacked, but a glance up at the screen showing Tarock's fight killed that idea. She couldn't lie to get someone in trouble like that, least of all someone who'd pay dearly for trying something physical with her dad. "My dad's trying to get me to leave."

"You know," the security-hulk said, "This is just a personal thought, mister, but if you're her teacher, maybe you ought to try to enjoy the show too."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Angelo demanded. Virginia looked at how thick the crowd was and thought about how easy it would be for her to escape her dad if she tried. She stayed right where she was.

The security-hulk pointed to the screen hovering over the stage, where Tarock had smashed one of Warlock's lower arms completely off with a two-handed swing of her heavy scepter. "You taught her to do that, right? Maybe watch for a little while and take some pride in what you see."

"That's kinda hypocritical coming from somebody who's supposed to make sure a place is _secure_."

"My job is to keep the performers safe but to help them give the audience something amazing to see, too," the security-hulk stated. "Didn't I hear her say you want people to see Tarock and think they should be kind of like that too? Maybe you ought to appreciate how well it's working on your daughter, sir."

The conversation was interrupted as another explosion ripped through the air, this one louder than any before. They looked up at the screen to see Tarock flying backward as a wave of power erupted from Warlock's hands.

* * *

The heat of Warlock's blast faded quickly as Tarock was flung away, and she had a second to be amazed at how strong her new armor was; she'd only felt the heat for a second.

But then she slammed into the wall of fire Warlock had created. The heat singed at her body, but before Tarock could get away from it and continue the fight she saw something that made her skin crawl.

Demonic faces and clawed hands formed from the wall, leering at Tarock and grabbing her by the arms and legs and pulling her against the wall that sizzled against her back. It was only uncomfortably hot at the moment, but she didn't feel like seeing just how durable her new armor was on her first time out with it.

Warlock charged at her while she was trapped, weapons forming out of energy in his hands as he did. Two long spears appeared in his upper hands that he threw at Tarock. They whistled and crackled with power at the same time as they flew through the air before striking against Tarock's shoulder, pain racing down her arm and almost making her drop her weapon.

Two new weapons took their place, a pair of chain maces each with two huge spiked balls hanging from them. He whirled both above his skull and then smashed them down on Tarock. She cried out as her head and torso were pushed deeper, the demons seeming to cackle as more reached out and grabbed her, pulling her even deeper into the burning wall.

Warlock seemed to grin somehow as he lifted his weapons to hit her again. Tarock flinched.

She'd been brute-forcing her way through this battle, but that was never how these things ended, did they? Sooner or later Tarock always needed to use one of her bigger powers to seize the upper hand.

Only this time she didn't know what those were. With her old forms she'd at least had a chance to look at a list of the powers they gave her before she actually went into battle with them. There had been no such thing on her new Empress card. Maybe it was too new, or she was too new to it. How did that work? What powers did she have like this? Something, anything…

The Fate Driver started to shake and spew sparks, then spoke, " **Calamity! Quickening Ray!** " Power traveled up her body from the Arm of the Empire and Tarock found the strength to rip free from the grip of the demons. A beam fired out of the gemstone and blasted against Warlock, knocking him into the air. He flew nearly fifteen feet before he hit the ground with a loud, rattling crash.

While Warlock was out of her face for a second Tarock slapped the Royal Core on her belt to see what this form would make it do. There was a soft pulse of it receiving her energy, then…nothing. No help there.

Warlock got up, but he was missing a few fingers from his various remaining arms, and the power rolling between his ribs and out his eyes had changed from that strong purple it had been before to a soft blue.

A blue shade that somehow seemed to Tarock to look…scared? Had a medium attack from her new form hurt him so much he was afraid of what she could do? Was her new form _that_ powerful when she really tried?

"Abyssal Dragons, come forth!" he yelled and slammed his bone palms against the ground. Power ripped through the ground, cracking the dirt as it went, then erupted underneath Tarock just before she had a chance to jump high into the air, higher than she ever had before.

A pair of ghostly snake-like dragons stretched out of the ground, snapping at her boots with huge curved teeth. Tarock concentrated and again the Arm of the Empire fired a Quickening Ray that destroy both of them in a flash, but as she landed she saw Warlock running back toward the black fortress he'd created as fast as his huge legs would carry him.

What was he going back for?

And what would happen if Tarock didn't stop him from getting it?

* * *

Uthar had expected things to get even darker as Thena led him down a slimy ramp into the depths of Warlock's tree, guided by some sense only she possessed. But instead, step by step it seemed to grow a little brighter, and as it did he would swear the walls were throbbing slightly like a heartbeat.

"What is it down there that we need to find, rather than help Tarock?" he asked.

"The true source of power here," Thena said. "But be alert. Other enemies are nearby."

He glanced over his shoulder, sure she was right but uneasy at how even with all his combat training there was no-one around them that he could detect with any of his own senses. Could Tarock sense such things too? How much did they outmatch him with all their powers?

In another few minutes of descending the ramp Thena turned suddenly and yelled as she cut open a section of wall with her twin swords, revealing a passage. As the covering fell away there was a roar and a blast of force like wind that hit him in the face, and he had to dig in his feet to keep from falling down even with his heavy combat boots on.

After a second it died down but didn't completely stop, and Uthar and Thena walked against the buffeting force into the room she'd revealed. Inside was a ball of some strange black crystal as tall as Uthar's waist. It throbbed like a heart, giving off the waves of wind with each throb. From within shined a weak silver light that flared with each throb.

Suddenly, between flares of silver light, a tall, scowling man with a blond crew cut appeared between them and the ball of dark crystal. It was Ivan Tawanovitch, but as Thena started to move around him he jumped in front of her.

"Don't you pathetic fleshlings come anywhere near that," he warned.

"Or you'll stop us, will you, Mythos?" Uthar replied challengingly.

Ivan smirked, then lunged at him, batting Thena aside with a powerful swipe of his arm that sent her sprawling. Ivan wrapped his beefy hands around Uthar's throat and started to squeeze, his teeth clenched in anger. Uthar fumbled for his baton, jammed it against Ivan's chest and unleashed a full-power blast that hurled them to different sides of the room.

Uthar got up to continue the fight first, but froze as he caught sight of his enemy. Where Uthar had blasted him the skin had fallen away, revealing a rubbery blue skin underneath. Fire seemed to burn in Ivan's eyes and he called out, "Mother, strengthen me to destroy your enemies and protect that which is sacred to you!" He screamed in pain as the skin fell from his right arm and revealed a thick blue tentacle with a wide pseudopod at the end. Before it was even totally revealed he swung it at Uthar like a whip, stretching out as it neared him.

But this wasn't the first fight Uthar had been in. He threw himself to the ground and the tentacle swung by him, smashing into the wall and peppering him with small rocks. Uthar's weapon was jarred from his hand by the powerful shock and as he reached for it Ivan brought his arm down on top of the baton, completely crushing it.

Thena drew her twin swords and ran in a circle around the room trying to get behind Ivan. He saw what she was up to and lashed out at her next, with Thena raising her blades to shield herself as the tentacle cracked out at her. The blades dug into Ivan's flailing arm but didn't cut through, and his powerful swing pushed her backward until he pushed so hard her so hard she yipped in surprise and fell on her back. Ivan's tentacle swung past and hit the wall, punching a hole through it and exposing the sky.

Uthar tackled Ivan from behind, but Ivan only grunted in annoyance and shook his shoulders violently, throwing Uthar to the floor where he slid to edge of the opening in the wall. "I'll crush you if you make another move toward that," Ivan said, indicating the large black ball with his human hand.

"Will you?" Uthar replied with surprising confidence.

"What?" Ivan demanded.

"Is that as far as you can change, even with your precious mother's blessing?" Uthar replied. "I've seen Mythos ten times your size. Am I supposed to be afraid of _you_ , some idiot who thinks one inhuman arm makes him their equal?"

Ivan laughed. "And I suppose I'm meant to be angered by your stupid insults and attack you in a rage, leaving myself vulnerable. Why should I, when both of you have seen that you're no match for me even before I've completed my metamorphosis."

"You think you'll get the chance before Tarock gets here and takes care of you?" Thena joined in.

Again, Ivan laughed, but never took his eyes off them. "Is Tarock the only one of you who can do anything?"

"No," Uthar said. "I wouldn't say that."

"And what can you do, then?" Ivan asked derisively.

"Not nearly as much as he can," Uthar said, then dove out of the way right before a huge stone fist crashed through the wall and careened into Ivan who went flying from the punch. His body dented the wall but he almost seemed to bounce back up, ready to fight again, but as he did a silky feminine voice only he could hear whispered into his ear.

" _Withdraw_."

But Ivan grunted in defiance. "I can defeat them if you'll let me assume my full form. And the fragment—"

" _Your body is not fully adapted. If you try to metamorph now you'll die, and you're no use to me or your brothers in that condition. The fragment isn't lost yet._ "

Grimacing in disgust, Ivan faded into the shadows leaving the giant crystal behind. Thena sighed in relief, and Uthar didn't blame her. "Good thing you got here when you did, Loi," he said to their savior. It was Rampart, sporting a new giant suit of rock armor and hanging from the outside of the black tree.

"You wouldn't last a day without me," Rampart laughed.

Then a trio of ghostly dragons flew up from the ground and knocked him off his perch.

But before Uthar could worry about that the entire structure around them rumbled and the ceiling seemed to unwrap itself above them.

* * *

The evil fortress exploded into a million pieces and the dark tree that had been holding it up started to unravel from the top as Tarock watched.

Warlock took a long jump that carried him to the base of the tree, but Tarock crouched and jumped as far as her new powers could take her straight into the trunk of the tree itself even as it disintegrated. She had a feeling from the guy who'd fallen off the side a second ago that someone might still be inside. As she reached the final descent of her jump she saw she was right.

Uthar and Thena were kneeling amid the destruction near a large sphere of glowing crystal, but Tarock didn't spare any attention for that, grabbed each of them under one arm and jumped clear of the collapsing tree. Behind them it finished unraveling with huge strands of blackness falling to the ground with a terrifying crash.

A minute passed and there was no sign of Warlock or any more attacks. "I'm afraid to jinx it or anything," Tarock said, "but is it over now?"

"I doubt it," Uthar replied, a little gruffly. "You must've seen how that crystal was giving off incredible power. You're the strongest of us now, you should've destroyed it to be sure the Mythos couldn't get it."

"I lost somebody before, I don't really feel like making that worse by losing other people now," Tarock told him wearily.

"I'm a soldier. It comes with the territory," Uthar replied.

"You saying you _wanted_ to die?"

"I'm saying I'm _ready_ to die," Uthar stated. "And I thought Tarock would understand the need for that sometimes."

"You're learning a lot of things about me tonight, aren't you?" she said back, too tired to get into it any deeper with him. "We should go make sure your friend's okay, shouldn't we?"  
But she'd hardly said the words before the temperature of the air seemed to plummet and then the wind whipped around them violently. A point of blackness appeared in the air above them and within a second expanded into the skinless form of Warlock, holding the large ball of crystal above his skull.

A long crack ran back from his brow with purple light seeping out from inside. The hand on his remaining lower arm had been smashed somehow, leaving just a bony stump sticking out from his spine. But if anything he seemed to be grinning triumphantly with his new treasure.

"I offered you a place among us," Warlock said. "You would've had as much as you have now and more. But now I simply assure the Dark Mother's path will be clear. Let you see the glory that's passed you by!"

Suddenly, violently, the ground cracked apart between Tarock and the others, the ground Tarock was one shifting up suddenly and flinging her away from them. As she went flying she held onto the Arm of the Empire with all her might. She managed to land in an awkward crouch and looked up in time to see a pair of dinosaur-like creatures with long necks crawl out of the ground, their bodies made entirely of some shiny black material. Then a horned demon formed to her left and jumped at Tarock, who just barely managed to smash it aside before the ground wobbled under her feet, a blob-like creature forming there.

Tarock jumped away to a clear patch of ground but even before she landed she saw another monster taking form. Its eyes glowing white but the rest of it was shining black. It had the shape of a malnourished teenage girl in a ragged robe, who looked into Tarock's face with a mixture of despair and rage.

It was the image of Lost, the source of the Mythos who Tarock had failed to save.

Anger overwhelmed Tarock and she blasted the mockery of her friend to pieces with a Quickening Ray. But even as she did the ground shook with more shapes appearing from it, and a glance over her shoulder showed Rampart trying to shield the others and splattering a pair of monsters with a downward blow from his hand just as a dinosaur-shaped monster lunged at him and smashed one of his armor's arms to bits. Two flying creatures attacked and Thena conjured two long ghostly images in the shape of arms that grabbed them out of the air and smashed them against the ground, but more and more creatures kept coming.

Tarock knew she needed to end this quickly or they'd be overwhelmed by whatever extra power Warlock had thanks to his crystal orb. She had to hit hard and fight her way to him before these new monsters could get in her way…

" **Dire Fate! Imperial Onslaught!** " the Fate Driver said and spewed sparks from its card slot. Tarock was too focused on the power rushing down her arm and into the scepter to notice, only thinking about aiming it up at her enemies before the power was unleashed. A second later a weird purple smoke flowed from the gemstone on the Arm of the Empire, but once it was a few feet out it suddenly solidified into waves of armored warriors armed with swords, spears, even flaming torches. The warriors surged forward and tore into the monsters in front of Tarock with their weapons, hacking them down without hesitation.

She pushed forward with more and more ghostly warriors appearing and devastating any monsters that got in her way. After a minute the monstrosities had been wiped out, and Warlock hovered above her, alone except for the crystal.

 _He_ had done all this, created monsters from her powers, built this park to draw people in, made a deal with the leader of the Mythos for power, and all of it to _make a show of power and attract people to the Mythos's new cult_ , he'd told her. As if that disregard for life hadn't been enough, he'd offered to let her be part of it. Rubbed her face in her failure to save Lost, and acted as if it had been something for the better.

She was going to end this. _Now_.

As she focused on this thought she could feel a burning sensation running down her left arm, where the marks left by Lost's tears as she was carried away had fallen. A silver glow surrounded her shoulder and then raced down her arm to her gauntleted hand, forming into something solid. Tarock glanced down and was surprised to see a round silver seed clutched between her fingers.

Seeming to sense her power Warlock floated higher, holding the crystal protectively above him to keep it out of her reach. Tarock crouched and jumped high, her new powers carrying her higher than she ever remembered going before. She battered at Warlock with her weapon but even as broken ribs fell from his body all he did was conjure a half-circle shield surrounding himself and the crystal, as if keeping it safe was worth more than his own safety.

A Quickening Ray lanced from Tarock's Arm of the Empire, slicing through the shield and strike the crystal but glancing off with a loud metal ricocheting sound. Desperately Warlock then threw it straight up into the air and held out both hands, transparent snake-like dragons growing out from the palms. Tarock knocked away with a pounding swing from her scepter but the other coiled around her torso and started to squeeze, then a second later sank its teeth into her shoulder, trying to get her to drop her weapon.

Gravity asserted itself and as they fell the pressure of the dragon's spectral teeth in her shoulder seemed to get even stronger. Then Warlock's other dragon whipped around her too and bit into her leg. With Tarock pinned Warlock cupped his hands in front of himself and a roiling ball of energy started to form there.

"I should've finished you off and hung your body from my fortress from the start," he growled.

"Yeah, you should've," Tarock growled in spite of her pain. But again she could feel power rising in her, screaming to be unleashed.

" **Ca-c-cataclysm! Paragon Overthrow!** " the Fate Driver stuttered for a second before announcing. So much power accumulated in Tarock that her entire body started to glow with what looked like purple fire and she thrust her arms and legs wide, tearing Warlock's dragons apart as she did. Warlock himself threw his arms toward her and unleashed a massive energy blast, but still surrounded with power Tarock deflected it with ease into the sky and thought she saw it bounce off the side of the crystal orb high above them too.

But her entire body ached with power, and Tarock knew she could either give it release or destroy herself. She held the Arm of the Empire in front of herself and then her energies propelled her through the air at Warlock. A field of rippling energy formed from the scepter's gemstone and shielded her as Warlock desperately conjured more dragons and smaller energy blasts to try and fend her off.

But it was all useless, all of his attacks bouncing off harmlessly and flickering away in midair. "Fighting fate," Tarock whispered, just before she blasted through Warlock's body.

* * *

As Warlock's bones shattered in all directions, the pieces shimmered and changed into tiny shards of pale purple crystal that came down all over the park.

One shard, almost a foot long and glowing brighter than the rest, spun end over end through the air, and fell near the stage where all the trapped parkgoers had gathered.

In the middle of the crowd was Virginia Bell, who looked up at the falling crystal as if hypnotized. Without thinking Virginia reached out for it. Instead of slapping against her palm it penetrated her chest, sinking into her body like a stone into water. Her fall seemed impossibly slow, muffled by whatever had just entered her. She didn't even feel herself hit the ground or hear her father screaming in terror

* * *

Tarock landed gently a second later, thinking only about how it felt like she was drowning inside her armor and desperately released it before she suffocated inside the new suit that had been her salvation a minute before. The first breath she took after her card ejected and she could taste the air without filtration felt like the first one she'd _ever_ taken, like the world was somehow different now after her first battle in Empress Form.

As she tried to collect herself she realized the sun was starting to shine over the buildings and rides of Marvel Land. Things felt even more like a rebirth, and in spite of how exhausted she felt and every inch of her body seemed to ache from her fight with Warlock, Liss couldn't help smiling a bit.

"There! There she is!" she heard someone say, and she saw a dark silhouette descending a hill in her direction that a second later she recognized as Uthar. Was she that drained from everything she'd just done? Yes, Liss realized, she probably was…

A second later Thena followed, having tucked her helmet under one arm and her face covered only by a mask of thick bandages. The ground shook a little with every step the battered Rampart took closer to Liss. She retreated back a step but Uthar waved his hand. "He's a friend, Tarock. I'll personally vouch for him."

"Okay, good. I don't really need somebody else to fight right now," Liss sighed and sat down heavily on the ground. "Did any of you guys see where that big crystal ball or whatever it was came down? I hit it a couple times but I don't think I destroyed it…"

Thena smirked. "All business."

"You mean this little pebble?" Rampart asked, holding up the black crystal in his armor's remaining hand, the silver light inside it having dimmed.

The color made Liss think of the seed that had appeared without explanation in her hand, and she got out it out. As she did an image of Lost appeared for a second in her fake eye. Frantically Lost pointed at the seed with one hand and Rampart with the other. Then she was gone, but Liss thought she'd made her point.

"Any idea what we should do with this, if the Mythos want it so badly and even Tarock couldn't destroy it?" Rampart asked.

"Maybe I can, just not with lasers and punches," Liss replied, then pointed in one direction. "You guys mind meeting me over there, by the edge of the amusement park? After I go check on some people I'll meet you there."

Thena made a thoughtful sound. "If this object is so important to the Mythos, can it really afford to wait?" she asked, but then looked at Tarock impassively as if it was only a suggestion and gauging her reaction to it.

"Yes, I think we can. I trust you guys to keep an eye on it til I get there, and I need to deal with that thing myself. But I need to make sure the people who came to the park are okay before I do that," Liss said, then shuddered. "I lost somebody and things are going to get worse before they get better thanks to that…I need to keep that to a minimum now."

"Do you think you can?" Thena questioned, Uthar and Rampart shooting Thena questioning looks of their own.

Liss gave a tired sort of smile over her shoulder as she left. "Fighting fate," was all she said.

* * *

As soon as the back of the stage came into view, Liss realized she wasn't alone. She groaned inwardly as she expected Warlock to have resurrected himself and come to finish her off in a new form, but instead looked up to find Fred the security-hulk towering over her.

"The band wanted to talk to you if you showed up again," he explained plainly.

"And you knew I was back here, somehow."

"It's my job to know where I'm needed," Fred explained again, then smirked slightly. "Kind of like yours, I bet."

Liss pointed to her fake eye. "Be careful, or your job might end up giving you one of these."

"Maybe I should. That looks cool," Fred replied teasingly, and Liss sighed in exasperation. Fred's smirk turned up ever so slightly.

Once they were backstage the band members Liss had met before were already waiting for them, and Fred disappeared to the front of the stage to leave them in private. Dan, the short blue-haired girl, took a cautious step closer to Tarock.

"Are all the monsters gone? Is it really over?" she asked softly, nervously.

Liss nodded and smiled lightly, but she wanted to get home and put this behind her. "Yeah, they're gone. It was pretty intense for a while, but we got them all."

"Then…," Dan said and looked away for a second, then whipped out a notebook and pen. "Can I have your autograph? Please?"

"What?"

But the other three members of L-Mitless were clutching notebooks or whatever ragged scraps of paper they'd been able to find amidst the night's chaos. Lilith stepped forward, long dark hair waving behind her, and smiled. "We didn't know if we'd get the chance to meet the local superhero…let alone have her save our butts. We'd really like something to remember it by."

"Not that we'd have any trouble remembering a night like tonight," said Karyn, seeming to peer through her hair. She said it quickly, as if she was afraid of offending their savior.

"Me either," Liss replied as casually as she could to dismiss the fear. She took Karyn's pen and scrap of paper and thought for a second which name she should sign it with, then decided on the one Warlock had been exploiting when he set up the concert and everything else, but who had beaten him in the end: Kamen Rider Tarock.

She signed autographs for Lilith and Dan too, then was approached by the fourth member of L-Mitless, a blonde girl who introduced herself as Allie. "Can I get your phone number, too…?" Allie whispered, turning away from the other band members so they couldn't see her blush.

"I'm usually somewhere that doesn't get any reception. A different planet," Liss said, then saw Allie's face fall in disappointment. "I'm not saying that just so I don't have to tell you. It's called the Sphere, and it has like different floors for ground, one on top of the other. That's where the Mythos and the other Riders come from."

"It sounds really cool…"

Liss nodded a little. "It'll probably be cooler after the Mythos are gone and everything can get rebuilt." Allie's look turned hopeful again, and a with a little reluctance Liss wrote her number underneath her signature and handed back Allie's notebook. Then she tried to leave to inspect for casualties, but the band made Liss stick around another minute more while Fred took pictures of her posing with them using each of their phones. Liss slipped away before they could talk her into a few with her own phone, Fred seeming not to hear the band's protests to stop her and giving an almost unnoticeable wink as she went by.

Flashing red lights shined into Liss's eyes as she ran through the front curtain, and she realized they were coming from a pair of ambulances and police cars parked away from the stage. She jumped down and started looking around for Virginia, and stopped in surprise as she saw Virginia standing by one of the ambulances and arguing with her father while a confused-looking paramedic watched.

"I feel _fine_!" Virginia shouted as Liss got close enough to hear what was being said.

Angelo had a frown pasted to his face that was part anger and part concern. "A god damn giant crystal fell out of the sky and hit you! Get in that thing right now!"

Virginia's eyes lit up as she spotted Liss coming closer. "There you are!" she shouted and jumped away. "Tell my dad if I feel fine, then I'm fine."

"She is _not_ fine," Angelo scowled. "A huge purple crystal fell out of the sky and hit her! I just want her to go and get checked out to make sure she's okay!"

Liss sighed, the night seeming to catch up with her even faster as they broke into their argument again. "Maybe you should, Virginia," she said. "Just to be safe."

Angelo nodded approvingly while Virginia gaped at Liss, unable to believe she was agreeing. "But—" Virginia started to protest, but Liss clapped a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

"These Mythos guys are dangerous. I don't think you should take any chances if you got hit by a crystal," Liss said. "A big one, anyway."

"It _was_ a big one," Virginia admitted. "But I feel great! I feel really strong and fast and…" She trailed off as she Liss fixed her with a look from Liss's own fake eye.

"Please go and get checked out, okay? You're a little too young to end up with one of these in your head yet," Liss said, and smiled a little.

"So is that a yes?" the paramedic asked.

It took Virginia a second, but she nodded and got in the back of the ambulance. Shooting Liss a tired but relieved look, Angelo got in with her. The paramedic shut the doors, got in the front and drove away.

"Hey! Liss!" someone called and she turned to see Ben limping up to her, looking dazed and exhausted. "Guess you got all the Mythos, huh? As usual."

"You must've done pretty good too. I don't think even Rexi could've gotten them all."

"No, I got one," Ben said, looking down. "But I knocked myself out with my own powers again…I should've been there to help you with the boss."

"You still got one," Liss said. "Hey, come on, let's go meet the others. There's something we need to try."

Ben nodded. "Sure, anything you say, boss."

Liss stared at him for a minute like she had no idea how to react to that before they left.

* * *

"So…what are we doing, exactly?" Rampart asked, still holding the black orb they'd taken from the Mythos in his armor's remaining hand.

Liss and Ben had met with the three visitors from the Sphere and traveled to a little park near the center of town whose name had long been forgotten. In the middle of it was the bowl of an old fountain that had once sported a statue in the middle but it had finally been destroyed by vandals about two years before. A few inches of rain water were collected in the bottom along with some brown leaves.

"I think I need to plant the seed," Liss answered. "This seemed like a good place. Then…I think it'll take care of that." She pointed to the black orb.

"You think?" Uthar said, squinting at her.

Ben shoved him. "You got a better idea, buddy? What were you doin' when she was out trying to save the whole world? Yours and hers."

"It's okay, Ben," Liss interrupted, then tipped the silver seed into the old fountain. It landed in the water with a plop, and Liss gasped and jumped back as she saw green roots already shooting out from it. The old fountain shook and then cracked, and within seconds a sapling as tall as Liss had grown up.

The bark was glistening silver, and its stubby young branches had dark purple buds on them. Then a ray of light came from the top, not shooting so much as _flowing_ through the air and touching the orb. Rampart yelped in surprise and jumped down from inside his armor, but the round crystal was the only thing damaged, disintegrating into dust bit by bit until nothing was left of it. The sapling shimmered and branches shot out all over, the buds opening themselves to the sky. And Liss and her companions suddenly looked around, feeling more alive and alert than they could ever remember.

And for a second before the light faded, Liss was sure she could see an image of Lost nearby, looking tired and hungry, but smiling hopefully at her.

* * *

"So…what was that thing anyway?" asked Lieutenant Loi, reverted to normal.

"Who knows? The Mythos wanted it badly, and that's enough reason to make sure they don't have it," Thena replied lightly. "But can't you feel it in the air now? _Life_. I can't imagine this place feeling very welcoming to any more Mythos who tried to make their way here now…"

"Yeah," Liss agreed distantly. She could definitely feel an energy to the air, and in her false eye all of the others, Ben, Thena, Uthar, Loi…even the buildings around them were covered in a faint white sheen. Somehow it felt warm and reassuring. Liss knew she'd be able to save Lost. All she needed to do was learn enough to figure out how.

Uthar looked back at the tree and then up at the morning sky. "I hope you're right. It could be a very effective weapon."

"I have a sense for these things," Thena replied, but then turned to Liss. "Speaking of weapons, we need to discuss the usage of the remains of two of the Arcana."

"What?" Liss asked.

"The stones that embody the power of two of the fallen Arcana," Thena explained calmly. "Leone, she who cast off violence, and the Inverted Sage. They were being used by the Mythos but were found and claimed by our people after the Mythos were killed. The Empress left it up to Tarock to decide how to utilize them."

"Me?"

Uthar looked at Loi and then back at Liss, then nodded. "After tonight, it would seem you're to be Maeve's successor."

Ben blinked and stared at Liss in amazement. "You're going to be the new Empress, Liss?"

"No, I'm not," she answered. "I'm sure as hell not doing anything right now. I'm going home and going to bed, and that's it."

"This is a matter that cannot wait," Thena said with a surprising firmness.

Ben grimaced. "Hey, she just killed another Mythos boss. Leave her the hell alone."

But Liss raised a hand for peace. "I'll come meet you about it when I wake up, is that good enough?"

Thena nodded slowly. "Soon," she said evenly.

"Great," Liss said, staggered to the edge of the park where she climbed onto Shift Runner. With one last look back at the strange but beautiful tree, and her group of allies old and new as they gave her questioning looks.

Then she sped away, sleep the only thing on her mind.

* * *

Liss had barely hung up her coat behind the door and dropped her shoes on the floor before she flopped onto the couch, her head landing heavily on the back with her hair dangling down the back. Sleep didn't come quickly, though; she swore she could still see the sunlight in her fake eye even with her eyes shut.

Just as she felt herself drifting off there was a loud noise downstairs and as Liss jolted awake, afraid for another Mythos attack, but after a second she recognized it as the sound of a door slamming. Why would someone who wanted to kill them care about closing the door? Footsteps thumped up the stairs and after a second Angelo and his daughters appeared in the doorway. Jennifer, the older girl Liss didn't know, shivered and walked right through the living room into the room she and Virginia shared and shut the door loudly behind her. Angelo, looking exhausted, shuffled past and into his own bedroom and fell hard into the bed without closing the door.

Virginia, on the other hand, sat down on the couch next to Liss with a triumphant smile on her face. "I'm fine," she announced. "In fact the doctor said I'm the healthiest girl my age he ever remembers examining."

"That's good," Liss half-said and half-groaned. "You should probably still be careful. Even if it was a good idea to go and make sure you're okay, hospitals probably can't tell if something magic's happening to you. Maybe I should see if I Jack can come and make sure you're okay…huh, I hope he's okay. So many people to keep track of…" Her had sank back onto the couch and her eyes drifted shut again. "It used to be a lot easier."

"You'll be okay," Virginia smiled. "You're the toughest person I know."

"I heard that!" Angelo called from the other room. "I took out one of those monsters with one punch, thank you! ONE! How do you think I got all that blood on my hand and none anywhere else?!"

"Daddy, I have a huge headache, keep it down, okay?" Jennifer moaned from what sounded like right inside the door to her room. Angelo grumbled for a minute then went silent again.

Virginia turned to her idol again. "Seriously though," she whispered, "dad always talks about Kamen Riders, but you actually are one. I think you still come out ahead of him."

"He's still the one who taught me how to do all this," Liss replied, managing a smile despite her exhaustion. "And…"

"…and?" Virginia asked, her smile fading.

"…and I think he has a point about being careful about how involved you get in dangerous things. If you want to get involved as much as I am, you need to face how you're risking your life. It's your life. In the end the choice is still up to you. But you need to really think about what you're doing and what can happen because you decided to do it. I've gotta live with my decision to do this forever. If I last that long."

"Don't say that!" Virginia gasped, but Liss turned and fixed the girl with her crystal eye.

"I'm going to see this every time I look in the mirror until the day I die, Virginia. I'm not invincible," Liss said. "And I got off easy with just this. This is the kind of life I picked. Think hard about it before you pick it too, just because you think I look cool running around kicking monsters."

Virginia looked at her for a minute without saying, and then nodded, a little disappointedly it looked like. But Liss smiled and her expression turned questioning.

"Hey," Liss said, "no matter what you do, can I count on you to cheer for me when I'm running around kicking monsters?"

Virginia beamed. "Always."

And then Liss said one word that just about made Virginia melt into the floor.

"Thanks."

* * *

Ivan Tawanovitch entered a darkened room, his arm still mutated into a dark blue tentacle and pulling in annoyance at some strips of flesh beginning to peel from his face revealing a different dark blue skin underneath. His father had given him the looks of an Adonis. But his father had also given him the intelligence to know what was a worthy of sacrifice for power.

"I have returned," he said unnecessarily, because he knew the being he was addressing knew where he was at all times now. "I still maintain I could've recovered the fragment if I'd been allowed full use of my abilities."

" **There will be other times** ," came a vaguely feminine but deeply distorted voice from the other side of the chamber where Ivan could just barely make out a throbbing, constantly-shifting form. In the same spot he saw a mass of eyes of numerous shapes and species one second, a distorted female face another and then nothing but bubbling flesh the next. " **The most important thing is that now we are equipped to find them first. The Shadows are complete,** **ready to lead the first of our followers in the search.** "

"Complete? But you said there would be three of us," Ivan asked in surprise.

" **The last has sworn his soul to the Order of Shining Darkness** ," the Dark Mother answered. " **He will join us after he has performed a vital task of his own. For now, let us prepare for the darkness falling over all, and only the blessed shall see**!"

He nodded solemnly and sank to one knee. It seemed, at last, a new age was indeed coming.

* * *

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

 **(A shadowy figure makes off with two glowing red and yellow crystals)**

 **Thena: They've been taken to the ruins of that sewer-city, Raijan.**

 **(Liss, Uthar and Thena look down a cliff at a fortified city)**

 **Liss: We're probably gonna need all the help we can get, isn't that what you said?**

 **(In her Empress form Tarock battles a lithe woman in golden armor with a lion-like mask with foot-long claws extending from her gauntlets)**

 **Uthar: I never expected I'd mean them.**

 **(Tarock fights a winged, dragon-like Mythos who wields a mace and unleashes a pair of giant reptilian monsters to fight her, but she mounts a large white lion to fight back)**

 **Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.**

* * *

 **Hey there! Sorry this dragged out so long, but sometimes these things end up bigger than they did in your head. Anyway hope everyone enjoyed it regardless of how many chapters this little intro arc ended up being. It's a time of changes for sure, with Liss having to step up and the other normal people having to look after themselves from now on. Still, she's determined and she's been inspiring people so far. Maybe she can keep it up.**

 **As awesome as it was to write all those battles, though, it's left me a little drained and I'm gonna be devoting myself to chapters of other stuff for a while. That means some more chapters of KR Bloodstone, but also more for the Past Influences sidestory I'm doing for Tarock itself. If you haven't checked that out yet I hope you do sometime, and I hope it helps to add a few dimensions to this story.**

 **Thanks for reading, and mostly, thanks for your patience.**


	5. Reading 30: Four Faces

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Thirty: Four Faces**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

After Lost's capture, Liss returned to Earth to collect herself and try to work out a way to save her friend from the leader of the Mythos. While taking a night off to visit an amusement park with friends she was attacked and her form cards stolen by a new agent of the Mythos, Ivan Tawanovitch. He delivered them to another powerful Mythos commander called the Warlock who created four monsters based on the elemental power of each card and turned them loose on the park.

Other Riders who'd joined the fight because of her example took on these monsters while Liss and Uthar, a soldier from the Sphere, entered the Warlock's lair and ultimately defeated him with the stronger powers of her new Empress Form. Despite her victory and new powers, Liss fears this is only the beginning of a new chapter in the war against the Mythos.

* * *

 **Quick note from the author: Again, the ending of chapter 29 was changed. Please feel free to check that chapter out again before reading ahead.**

* * *

Again the banner of darkness swept across the Sphere's sky, but at the wall of the city of Mazones, tired workers kept trying to repair the city wall in case another Mythos attack came. Two small children ran back to their house, faces dirt-smeared and clothes ragged, still laughing at the game they'd just left behind despite their once-proud city still lying nearly destroyed. They jumped as they came into the living room, surprised to find the wounded refugees their family had been sheltering gone.

"They've recovered enough to join the others on the wall," their mother explained as she came into the room, carrying a plate with a cooked bird on it. "I thought we'd celebrate with some real meat for dinner tonight, what do you say?"

"Where did that come from?" the boy asked in surprise.

Their father entered the room through the empty doorway that led into their kitchen, carrying a bottle of bright red juice in each hand. "The Empress's servants came around delivering food to every house. Opening the palace's stores on the Empress's orders after the city was almost destroyed by the Mythos invasion, they said. She wants us to remember to stay strong now, when things look so bad for us."

As they dug into one of their first good meals since before the Mythos had started to besiege the city, the children excitedly told their parents all the rumors they'd heard from their friends, about how Tarock and the Empress herself were now friends after fighting side-by-side against the Mythos invasion and were going to personally storm the Mythos' lair and free the Sphere once and for all.

Others among their group had said that the Empress had struck down the giant Manticore and Tarock herself, and the threat of that unfairly empowered mortal was finally gone and what was left of the Arcana was safe from her threat. Another said that Tarock had taken advantage of the siege on the city to try to assassinate the Empress once and for all, and one girl had claimed Tarock had only been trying to save that strange girl the Empress had been planning to execute before the Mythos invaded in force.

Their parents just smiled and listened patiently as what each of the childrens' friends believed was related to them. It was worth it to them just knowing that despite the damage to Mazones, their children were still able to feel excited and hopeful about the future. Secretly their parents wondered if any part of Mazones would have been left standing at all, if not for the Empress's age old enemy joining the fight.

"Mommy, what's that outside?" their daughter asked, suddenly interrupting them. A pale white light was starting to shine down from the sky, through the windows and empty doorway of their house. She got up and started over to the door to peer out.

"No, Jelys, stay away!" her mother exclaimed, stomach knotting as the first thing that entered her mind was another surprise Mythos attack. But as she reached the doorway to pull her daughter back inside, the cause of the light froze her on the spot. "Boys…I think you'd better come see this."

The sky was full of thousands of Moth Wild Cards glowing with white light, like a fluttering cloud passing over the city. As it fly by numerous other families emerged from their homes, drawn outside by the light given off, and guards and workers at the perimeter wall stopped what they were doing to see what was going on.

The moths clustered together and a burst of light filled the night sky, and when it cleared an image hovered in front of the cloud of fluttering moths. It was Empress Maeve, their ruler. Normally she had always seemed stern and commanding when seen by her people, but now she looked exhausted, but with a strangely relieved smile on her regal face.

"People of Mazones," she spoke, the words echoing, "I regret to inform you all that if you are seeing this, then I am gone, and I cannot return." A tired smile came across her face. "It seems that eventually, even immortals die.

"But this is not the time for fear, my people. Now is the time for growth, for strengthening, for seizing your own destiny. I have ruled the empire of Mazones for longer than any of you have known. I've watched it spread, but I've also watched it shrink as the Mythos returned and laid waste to our towns and cities. You looked to me and the Arcana for protection and guidance, and we provided it as we always had. But perhaps we provided too much.

"I suppose that eventually time blinded me to the fact that even with my power and agelessness, I was not the only one with a future or a role to play in what becomes of the Sphere. You relied on us to rule and defend you, and as that happened more and more territory was claimed by Mythos. If you had not all relied on us so much, had been more encouraged to fight for yourselves, perhaps they wouldn't have become as powerful as they have. We may have had powerful allies ourselves."

The projection paused for a moment as the Empress looked dispirited, but she brushed her fingers across her forehead to collect herself and went on. "But even an immortal cannot turn back time. Our only path is forwards. There are new champions now, champions who fight for the good of our empire, for the good of us all I plead with you, gather your strength and take the fight to the Mythos.

"Your future is your own now, my children," the Empress said, smiling wistfully.

Then, their power spent, the moths started to dissolve into flowing powder and drift across the city, settling on the buildings and the citizens looking up at the sky. As it touched the onlookers a soft feeling of energy, of motivation, almost seemed to fill them.

As beneficial as it would be in the days ahead, everyone was so busy focusing on the Empress's last message to her people that no-one noticed a dark figure slipping undetected into the inner recesses of her palace and her hidden safe. In the late Empress's personal chambers, they spent a few minutes fiddling with the mechanism until it opened revealing two glowing crystals, embodying the powers of two of the late Arcana.

If they had known, the people of Mazones might have taken some comfort in knowing the intruder wasn't a Mythos, just a person looking after the interests of their people.

Those peoples' interests, on the other hand…

* * *

The dream Liss had both reassured and disturbed her.

She was laying on the ground underneath the weird silver tree she'd planted, its bark almost seeming to glow even when she looked at it with her normal eye. But instead of the sapling with its stubby branches and small purple flowers, the tree was massive, casting shade everywhere around her with its huge branches and vibrant purple leaves. She thought she could even see large red-purple fruit hanging from it.

But Liss didn't have long to think about that as she realized her head was laying across someone's lap. She rolled onto her back and looked up into the smiling face of a beautiful woman in a spotless white robe and hood.

It seemed impossible, but Liss knew at once it was Lost, even though she looked almost nothing like the Lost that Liss had met in the wilderness. Her face was full and healthy, she had rosy cheeks and blue eyes that danced with affection and perhaps just a hint of mischief.

"Lost…is that you? I thought the White Lady couldn't get inside my head anymore after I had that Mythos juice cleaned out of me."

"I might be," the lady smiled even wider and brushed her fingers against Liss's cheek. "But maybe then it's me reaching out to you, or maybe it's you reaching out to me. Maybe it's neither…"

"That's not much of an answer," Liss said.

The woman's smile faded and she nodded. "No, it isn't, Liss. But maybe that's why I'm here, to remind you of something you're thinking already. That you're at a point now where people can't inform your decisions for you anymore, and big things will depend on what you do. Whether your like it or not."

"What?" Liss demanded, but already she felt everything fading. She was waking up. In another second she was looking up at the roof of her room back at Angelo's place.

* * *

Liss rubbed her temples and groaned as she tried to collect herself. Today was the day of kung fu class, and she knew that since she was in town for it, she was expected to help teach. Her teacher had broken most of the bones in his hand killing the fire elemental with his punch, and certainly needed some help until he recovered.

A lot had happened during the battle at Marvel Land, though, and her body was still sore from all the fighting just from when she was up against the Manticore Mythos, never mind when she'd fought an enemy who was just as powerful as it had been, and had to do it with a brand new form.

Brand new form. That was right, the Empress had sacrificed herself to turn her powers over to Liss, who she'd thought of as an assassin bent on her death and the ruin of her people only a little while ago.

The Empress form had been amazingly strong, more than all of her old battle forms put together. And yet, thinking back on her fight with Warlock, even though she'd won, using its power had seemed… _wrong_. Liss had fought and sought for the other cards that empowered her to be Tarock. But the card that unlocked her new, even greater form had once been a person. A person who'd wanted Liss dead not long before, but still a person.

As she looked at the card, of the woman in the golden robe, holding a scepter in one hand and a shield in the other, Liss's skin started to crawl more and more as she thought back on her transformation and it started to feel like she'd changed into the Empress. Someone who'd been convinced Liss was a murderer before ever meeting her. She shoved the card into her inside pocket and went to make breakfast.

As she was frying a pair of eggs and trying not to think about her new form, Liss jumped in surprise as she suddenly heard a thundering sound like numerous footsteps running up the stairs from the ground floor and grabbed for the Fate Driver where she'd left it on the counter in easy reach. The door started to bang and rattle on its hinges, and whoever was on the other side cried out in a cacophony of voices.

But then Liss recognized what one of them was saying: "Is Liss really back?! Is she teaching today? Can she tells us her adventures?!" Liss half-sighed, half-laughed. Had all this with the Mythos and the Sphere made her that jumpy?

She kept cooking her eggs, but the pounding on the door kept up. After a second the door to the main bedroom opened and out stomped a hulking black man with a hand wrapped in bandages and a furious expression on his face. He threw open the door to the stairs and the group of kids standing outside fell silent as they saw who'd answered the noise.

"THE HELL YOU KIDS DOIN'?!" he demanded. "I taught you all better than that! You don't bug me, and you especially don't bug the damn superhero, understand?! Now get your butts downstairs and wait for class to start!" His shouts were answered by another thunderous rush, this time fading downstairs, and the crack of wood as one old step broke under the class's rush to do as he told them.

"Thanks, sensei," Liss chuckled with soft relief. "Did anybody get hurt by that step?"

"No," he answered, sighing anyway. "It broke but the kid caught the railing. Everybody's gonna have to jump it till I can get it fixed, though."

Liss turned off the stove and went over to look at his bandaged hand. "It's not too bad, is it?" she asked. "I'm kind of amazed you could kill a monster like that at all."

"What do you mean, you're amazed?" Angelo demanded. "Who taught the big hero how to kick ass, huh?" He smiled as he said it, though. "Look, if you aren't up to teaching today…"

But Liss waved her hand to cut him off. "I really feel like I should, sensei. A little normal stuff like kung fu class would help me out a lot with all the crazy stuff that's been happening. I mean, I got a new power just now, but it feels…like I wasn't really me when I used it. I don't know, sensei. Was that how Kamen Rider Black felt?"

He shrugged but brushed a lock of her hair fondly. "I don't know. I was there when he was fighting Gorgom but I had to leave to keep my family safer near the end of it. I never got to meet him and ask him." Liss sighed, but Angelo went on. "I'm betting he was a lot like the ones before him, though…had who he was taken away by getting his powers, so he had to decide who he was all over again. Guess we're lucky he made the choice he did."  
"Is that a hint, sensei?"

Angelo smirked and shook his head. "I've heard about some other Kamen Riders since then, Liss. Not all of 'em have been as nice as the old ones were, like Black. It's up to you to decide who you are, just like it was for them. But…if you _aren't_ like Black, I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

They both laughed a little, before Angelo interrupted. "I think we better go get started with class, huh?"

"Lead the way, sensei," Liss replied. Angelo smiled.

* * *

The students were sitting in two even rows waiting for their teachers to appear, fidgeting nervously after Angelo had warned them off earlier. On one end sat Virginia, Angelo's younger daughter, who looked to be biting her lip to hide a grin that Liss was finally back after being away on the Sphere for so long.

Angelo had Liss get out a pair of foam pads and hold them up as he demonstrated a basic spinning kick, wanting to avoid using his hands, Liss guessed. She split the class into two groups then, one to hold up pads as targets for the others who were going to attempt the move they'd been shown. Then she had to go around picking up the closest students who'd fallen down after blowing the move.

Liss poised, then performed the kick herself, knocking the pads out of the flinching kid's hand. "Start to twist the same time you jump," Liss advised them. "Don't jump and _then_ twist, you'll just fall over."

As she explained this the door to the street opened and someone walked in and stood at the edge of the room, watching the class. It was Paige, Liss's older sister. She leaned against the back window and sent Liss a polite wave but just watched passively as another kid tried the kick and fell down, and Liss turned to show it to him again.

The class went on for the rest of the hour and a half, the two of them showing a few new moves that Liss had to continually repeat for the students. By the end of it the students had stopped practicing the moves themselves and were all gathered around in a semicircle watching as Liss as she went through the entire kata Angelo had been planning to teach them, launching into a spinning kick, then a sudden and violent block with her arm held vertical, flowing into a sudden and vicious forward punch. Then with a yell she threw a violent upward kick with her heel extended to smash into the chin of an imaginary opponent, then launching into a flying kick aimed at their imaginary head. She landed with a deafening crash in the silent room.

Angelo quickly intervened. "And kids, if you practice hard, you'll be able to pull that off too. Who knows, maybe you'll save the world too someday?"

The lesson concluded, Liss stepped away from the students who broke up into their usual small groups of friends to wait for their rides. Some left the building on foot. Liss walked up to her sister and asked, "Hi, Paige…come down to see the lesson?"

"Not exactly," Paige replied. "But I did come down to ask you something. Can we go for a walk?"

* * *

Paige walked slowly and had a distant look in her eyes as they left the building, clearly something big on her mind. They passed the old park where Liss had planted that weird seed and a silver tree had sprung up. A crowd of people had actually gathered around the sidewalk at the edge of the park, staring in at the tree but seeming afraid of getting too close. Liss supposed she didn't blame them, but _she_ was sure it wasn't dangerous.

"So...what's going on, Paige?" Liss asked.

"Ooooh, aren't you the assertive one?" Paige smiled a little, but sighed. "I guess there's no point in dragging it out, though.

"Kelly's asked me to move away. She doesn't feel safe here anymore, after all those monsters showed up from Marvel Land. I wanted to know how you feel about that."

Liss's stomach clenched into an icy fist. "What?" she asked, her voice hollow and her throat suddenly dry. "You're moving away?"

"Maybe, Liss. Kelly doesn't feel safe in this town anymore, and I really can't say I blame her."

"I'll take care of it!" Liss blurted out. "Did a monster ever get anywhere near you when—"

"When what, Liss?" Paige gently cut her off. "When you were around? But that's kind of the thing, isn't it? You're hardly ever around anymore, you're usually off on that weird other planet where the monsters and superheroes come from. But that's probably why you'd be okay if I did move."

"Because I'm never here?!" Liss demanded.

But Paige laughed and mussed her sister's hair teasingly. "Because you're a freaking _superhero_! You fight monsters and hang out on this weird planet all the time! You're not some little kid, Liss, you don't need somebody looking over your shoulder and asking if you're okay. Isn't that what you wanted to prove by doing all this, anyway?"

"That's different!" Liss protested. "Paige, you standing up to dad was the reason I started standing up for myself—"

Paige shook her head and cut her off again. "You weren't standing up for yourself, you were cutting school and being a pain in the ass to people just because you could. That's nothing like what you're doing now, Liss. You're saving the damn world! You don't need me around looking out for you anymore."

"It's still different," Liss said, more quietly now. "I mean…you were always… _there_. You didn't care when dad kicked you out for not being straight, and you always did what felt right for you, like opening a garage. Mom wanted you to be a secretary or some stupid thing like that, remember?"

"You still don't get it," Paige chuckled.

"Get what?" Liss asked.

Paige smiled down at her younger sister and cupped her cheeks. "Liss, _I'm_ the one who looks up to _you_. When that giant spider showed up, I would've pissed myself, run away and called the cops, and they wouldn't have believed me. A bunch of people probably would've gotten killed. But _you_ picked up that belt and figured out how it worked, and you killed the monster, and all those other ones after it. When all those monsters showed up in Marvel Land, you went up after the leader even though he stole your powers.

" _You're_ the brave one, Liss," Paige explained. "Not me."

A moment passed in awkward silence. Paige smiled softly, patiently, while she waited for Liss to come up with an answer. Finally Liss said, "I guess you always were the smart one, huh?"

Paige smiled and gave her shoulder a playful shove. "At least you're finally starting to be the respectable one…hey, what's that?"

A glimmering moth flew down from the sky, and Liss held out her hand to catch it, recognizing it as a Wild Card. Once it was resting on her glove the moth split apart into a cluster of triangular crystals and reformed into the shape of a card. A projection appeared in the air above it of a woman wearing a winged helmet that obscured her face. Liss recognized it as Thena, one of the last few Arcana and who had recently, maybe a little reluctantly, declared herself with Liss. Which evidently meant deciding what to do with the powers of a pair of dead Arcana that had been recovered after the attack on Mazones.

"Tarock," she said, gravely. "The remains of two Arcana we had managed to recover were discovered missing this morning. However…we have reason to believe we know where they've been taken. I ask you to help me meet with those responsible and negotiate their return. However, the correspondence asks that we bring an envoy from Avalon. Please see to it, and meet me at this location." With that she held up a note for the recording.

"Sounds pretty important," Paige said lightly. "You need to get going to meet up with your buddy from, what was it, Avalon?"

Liss shook her head. "They're still camped out by Marvel Land, I think. That leader of theirs said they wanted to be around in case more monsters showed up. But there is one thing I need to do." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the only Wild Card she had on hand, a snake. She held it up in front of herself and spoke to it, "Ben, I need to go back to the Sphere for a while. I need you to keep an eye on things here, make sure the Mythos didn't leave us any surprises after all that crap at Marvel Land. I'm counting on you..."

Then she pushed a small bit of her vital energy into the card and it fragmented before reforming into a glittering snake. It jumped down off her hand and slithered away out of sight.

* * *

Darkness was setting in, in that weird way it did on the Sphere with no sun and moon, as Liss drove Shift Runner in its bike form into the wilds of the Sphere. Uthar, the leader of the soldiers from Avalon who'd showed up during the attack on Marvel Land, sat behind her, holding onto the frame with both hands.

He hadn't been entirely surprised at her request, having apparently been told something very important had been stolen from his city too while he was away, but he was eager not to let the powers of the Arcana fall into the wrong hands. Uthar _had_ been surprised to hear that the group claiming responsibility was another society he'd never heard of, called the Barony of Mados. When Liss had shown him Thena's message saying where it was, near the far edge of one of the middle levels of the Sphere, he blanched. Apparently it was near the location of some other old city. A very nasty one.

"Raijan was where exiles and bandits from Avalon and Mazones trickled together and made their own home," Uthar had explained. "Eventually they found a leader who could get the rest of them to listen to him, and who rejected the Arcana as humans' superiors. He had his people steal children and youths from the other empires to raise them in a 'free civilization,' he called it. Needless to say, the armies of both empires invaded Raijan and after the captives were located, they left nothing standing. We all thought there was nothing and no-one left there."

"Can't really blame 'em for all banding together after the Mythos showed up, though, can you?" Liss asked.

"No," Uthar answered her. "And honestly, I'm wondering if he might not have had a point, even if he went about it the wrong way."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because power is meant to be used, isn't it?" Uthar had said. "Maybe the Arcana were immortal, but how many of them were out…well, doing what _you've_ been doing?"

But Liss didn't answer. She'd spotted a gleam in the distance coming closer to them, but after another few seconds she could make out Thena in her winged helmet on the back of a stag whose hide was made of a dull bronze metal, with towering antlers the color of chrome. She rode up to next to them and stopped.

"I've scouted ahead," she said plainly. "There is indeed a city down there, but they don't seem to be expecting trouble."

"I still think this must be a trap," Uthar replied, but he gave Liss a questioning look as he did, as if thinking of something he wanted to say but unable to find quite the right words.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, and looked away sharply. Liss shrugged and rode down the hill. Just a mile or so away was indeed a city as Thena said, although it was a little hard to think the word really applied. There were crude multistory buildings made from stone, plain and utilitarian, with soft multicolored lights from crystal lamps coming from inside. The city was surrounded by a high stone wall with a rough wooden walkway along the top and guards with strange weapons clutched in their hands, made of a metal grip and a shard of crystal, which pointed forward like a gun.

As the came down to a wide gate a group of these guards ran out, aiming their weapons at Liss and the others, then lowered them after a second when the three didn't attack. Liss held up her Fate Driver, and the guard in front smirked and waved them inside.

Waiting for them just inside the gate was a balding, bearded man with a patch over his left eye. "Tarock, I presume," he said with an obsequious bow. "I am Jigado, the Duke's major domo. If you'll please accompany us to His Excellency's home…"

* * *

Mados wasn't the first unfriendly city Liss had spent time in on the Sphere, but she felt herself looking over her shoulder even more often than when she'd been in Mazones and the Empress had been bent on killing her. Even though this time, she could actually defend herself.

The people they passed regarded them with a cold suspicion, and the guards' hands never left their weapons. Even though they'd been invited Liss kept waiting for an ambush, and she doubted Uthar and Thena felt differently.

Eventually they came to a low, wide building with a fortified wall around it despite being inside the city itself already. Over the wide main door was a picture of a man throwing a looped rope around the neck of some kind of horned monster. The guards standing by the door smirked slightly menacingly as Liss, Uthar and Thena approached, but stood aside for them.

They passed into the building, which looked like it was in the process of being made into a richly-appointed castle. There were paintings of various people hanging on the walls that looked suspiciously new, stands with vases made of some kind of white stone that looked like they should hold flowers but were instead empty, and silky curtains hanging over the windows.

Finally their escort threw open a pair of double doors and there sitting on a simple wooden throne was the ruler of this city. He looked only a few years older than Liss herself, lightly bearded, his hair a lustrous black, countering his dazzling smile. For some reason the word "dashing" came to Liss's mind while she looked at him, something she'd never thought about a guy in her life. He wore a red satin vest over a buttoned up white shirt, dark blue pants and stood up onto shiny black leather shoes to walk over to them.

"His grace, Baron Jakkari the Second of Mados!" Jigado introduced him. "Sire, your guests have arrived."

"The second, eh?" Uthar muttered under his breath, but Liss was right in front of him and caught it.

"These still work just fine, you know," Jakkari replied, pointing at his deep grey eyes. "Now, off with you. I'll need to negotiate with our new allies."

Jigado looked back at his ruler uncertainly. "Is that a good idea, sire? With such powerful outsiders here as them?"

"What do you propose you'd do if Tarock did decide to attack me with all her power, which she won't since we're all allies against the Mythos, aren't we?" Jakkari retorted. "Besides, you know I'm never unprotected." He held up one hand and a slim brunette girl about Liss's age emerged from a shadow at the edge of the room, and it was impossible not to notice the large, jagged scar across her throat.

Jigado and the guards filed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Jakkari beamed and rose from his throne.

"Baron?" Liss found herself asking.

"Oh, I thought about declaring our society another empire," Jakkari replied jovially, "but I thought it'd give the people something to work toward if we started smaller. In any case, welcome, my esteemed friends! I'm _so_ glad that each of you was able to send a representative to discuss our alliance, with all the terrible things I'd been hearing about the devastation on each of your empires. Tell me though, Tarock, which empire claims your allegiance? That's the one thing that hasn't managed to reach me here."

"I'm not from either one," Liss answered. "I'm from Earth."

"Earth?" Jakkari asked, squinting those limpid eyes of his at her in confusion.

She found herself blushing for a second but recovered quickly. "It's a different planet than the Sphere," she explained briefly, careful not to reveal more until she was more sure of their host and his intent.

"Aren't we losing sight of the real purpose for this meeting?" Thena interrupted.

"Are we?" Jakkari asked with a faint smirk. "Jog my memory."

"Someone from your city stole the remains of two Arcana from Mazones," Thena said. "I'm able to offer 890 pounds worth of our purest Ora Stones to see to their return."

Jakkari laughed a snide laugh and pursed his lips. "You think I'd go to the trouble of claiming those crystals and letting you know my agent was responsible just to ransom them for a load of Ora Stones? No, no! I'm after something much, much more precious than crystal, even the finest you have! Besides, it's too late to just hand them back." He grinned and held up a card depicting a man in ragged clothing hanging upside from a tree branch by a rope tied to his leg. The girl with the scar across her throat held up a card as well, showing a beautiful blonde woman in a white dress twining her fingers into the mane of a lion.

Thena sputtered angrily, then shouted at him, "Do you have any idea what those represent?! Those are all that's left of my kind! Those are—"

"The means to guide the fate of a world in ruins," Jakkari cut her off. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. The rest of the Sphere thinks my father was a madman, and I will happily admit he tried to spread his beliefs in an evil way. But does that mean his beliefs themselves were evil, that humans shouldn't be allowed to be their own masters? Am I any less fit to wield this power than Tarock, because of who my father happened to be?"

Liss looked down. Her father hadn't been so great either. But if he'd been different, would she have ended up being the person who grabbed the Fate Driver and figured out how to make it work when a monster attacked? What would have happened if she hadn't?

But her attention was seized again by the metallic singing of one Thena's twin short swords leaving their scabbards. "I demand you return those to me at once, or—"

Jakkari raised one hand and waved it forward. "Sess," he said calmly. "Show them your tricks as Nemea." The scarred girl nodded before sliding the card she held into the silver buckle of a belt that was suddenly around her waist. In the front was a faceted yellow gem that flashed with blinding light, and when it cleared, the girl was changed.

She was covered from head to toe in gleaming golden armor over a dull brown undersuit. Her face was covered by a mask with the image of a snarling lion on it, the eyes a pair of bright blue lenses. The designs over her gauntlets and greaves showed pouncing cats, with a rendering of claws over the knuckle guard and the toes of her boots. Etched onto the chestplate was the number VIII.

Her belt cried out, " **Arms of Fate! Nemean Cutter!** " Three claws, each a good two feet long and glowing a deadly-looking orange light, extended from the knuckle guard on each gauntlet. Then she lunged at Thena.

Thena lashed out with her swords straight at Nema, but the silent girl moved with blinding speed and weaved around Thena's attacks which would've seemed impossibly fast any other time. Nemea backhanded Thena with her heavy claws all of a sudden, stunning the Arcanum long enough for Nemea to knock her across the room with a swipe from the claws.

Uthar reached for the baton at his belt, and Liss locked the Fate Driver around her waist. She slapped the Card of Swords inside, but the buckle shuddered for a second before it finally exclaimed " **Swords Suit!** " followed by the familiar rush of power as black and red armor encased her body again. Uthar slammed his baton against Nemea's torso and a burst of blue energy that would've floored any normal person rushed across her body, but then she turned and knocked him down with a kick, then hurled herself at Tarock.

Her sword flashed into being even as she swung at Nemea, but the golden warrior parried with one set of her claws. The room was filled with a screech of metal, then in one terrible second Nemea's claw sliced right through the blade of Tarock's weapon! She was so taken aback everything else seemed to stop in place as the pieces of Skycalibur's blade tumbled through the air and bounced off the floor. Her sword, her first weapon, had been destroyed as if it was nothing.

But then Nemea was on top of her, stabbing with her long claws and gouging right through Tarock's armor, drawing blood. Suddenly Tarock's hands shot out and grabbed Nemea by the wrists, then shoved her backward and knocked her across the room with a kick to the midriff. Nemea recovered quickly but in that second Tarock pulled another card from the pouch on her belt and loaded it.

Her belt seemed to shudder for a second again but then announced " **Wands Suit!** " Nemea rushed her, moving so fast she became a blur, but Tarock whispered, " **Mag Step**."

In the next second everything else seemed to slow down again except Nemea, who was only running at the speed of a normal person making a mad dash at her. Tarock stood her ground, clutching her wand in both hands waiting for the chance to use it. Then at the last possible second she jumped over Nemea's head and turned to deliver a kick to her shoulders in midair. While Nemea staggered Tarock hooked her wand under her opponent's arm and swung her off the ground and through the wide window in the back of the room, spraying glass all over the floor. Then, appearing to be nothing but a blue and black blur, Tarock jumped out the window after her.

Smirking, Jakkari looked out the window to watch the fight unfold between his bodyguard and the hero of the Sphere.

* * *

Still moving at unbelievable speed Tarock and Nemea charged together, swinging their deadly weapons at one another, Nemea catching Tarock on one arm as Tarock herself delivered a heavy blow with the fiery tip of her wand that knocked Sess's head to the side.

They stopped at the edges of the field behind Jakkari's manor house, reverting to normal speed. Tarock clutched at her wounded arm and Nemea shook her head trying to clear the dazed feeling she had from Tarock's powerful blow. She turned around, claws held out at her sides menacingly, and Tarock realized she'd need to put her opponent down fast if she was going to win this way.

" **Dire Fate! Flames of Wrath!** " cried her Fate Driver and the fire engulfing her wand roared even higher. She jumped high, spinning in midair and launching a fireball at Nemea, who easily batted it aside on a claw. Tarock spun again, launching an even bigger fireball, and Nemea raised her claws in front of her face protectively and catching the flaming projectile on them. It pushed her back one step, then two, then three, then exploded harmlessly.

Tarock threw her last and biggest fireball now, twice as tall as Nemea, but her golden opponent seemed unafraid, and suddenly dug her claws into the ground and pulled up a massive hunk of dirt and rock she threw into the path of Tarock's fireball. They collided and exploded, Jakkari gasping in surprise and ducking as pieces of debris pelted in through the window of his throne room.

But as Tarock touched the ground again Nemea came barreling out of the cloud of dust and hit her with a vicious upward slash that knocked Tarock into the air. Everything seemed to move in slow motion before she crashed back to earth, and looked up to see blood on Nemea's claws. Her blood.

Arms shaking, Tarock grabbed another card from her pouch, the Card of the Empress. She'd been worried about it feeling like she was taking on someone else's identity when she used this card before. But now it seemed like the only thing that could save her life.

And maybe, that life was going to be more complicated, involve more people and more responsibility than just finding a way to rescue Lost. She'd never really meant to, but she'd become a symbol to the people of the Sphere by being willing to leave the safety of the cities to find out what the Mythos were really up to and do everything in her power to stop them from getting it. Hell, that morning Liss had found out her brave, strong, defiant older sister thought _she_ was the brave, strong, defiant one.

Could she take those people's symbol of strength and will to fight and just throw it away, over something like how it felt wrong using powers she'd been _given_ because their previous owner thought she'd use them well?

" **Empress! Major!** " the Fate Driver said even as a fountain of sparks erupted from its slot. She raised her scepter, its gem already glowing as it charged with power and Nemea charged in to finish her off. Just before she could hit Tarock, the scepter erupted with a beam of violet energy that slammed into Nemea and this time _she_ was the one knocked off her feet and into the air. She somersaulted end over end almost fifty feet before landing with a crash that splintered the ground. Finally her golden armor faded away, but when Nemea pushed herself up to look Tarock in the face, she had a strange, knowing smile.

Keeping a close eye on her opponent, Liss walked back to Jakkari's throne room. Thena and Uthar were on their feet again and looked mostly intact. Uthar gasped when he saw the streak of red running down Liss's shirt, though.

"Tarock, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed and stepped closer to examine her wound but she stepped away from him.

"It's nothing," she said, and turned to face Jakkari who was looking pleased with himself even though his fighter was the one who lost. "If you're not gonna give us those cards back, what _do_ you want?" she demanded.

"An alliance!" Jakkari grinned, and Liss swore he winked at her. She was even more sure when she heard Uthar growl quietly in annoyance. "You'll need every able body you can, food for your people in your devastated cities. Deny it, if you can." Liss, Uthar and Thena said nothing, and Jakkari went on. "I can provide supplies for your empires. We are a new society, the Mythos haven't paid us nearly as much attention. What I ask in return is if I call upon your champions for aid, that that aid be given. The Mythos are not gone after the siege on your cities, my friends. This is only a lull while they gather their strength."

"They're not gathering their strength, they're already attacking again. That's how I got this," Liss answered, holding up the Empress Card. "But how do we know you aren't going to screw us over if you see a good opportunity?"

Jakkari laughed a good-natured laugh at the question, but for a second he locked eyes with Liss and gave her a fiery glare, as if warning her he wasn't someone to cross. "The Mythos are a threat to us all! Do you really think I have anything to gain by trying to strike a bargain with them? Besides, I _do_ have something they value. Perhaps seeing it would convince you…? JIGADO!"

The doors flew open and the one-eyed butler ran into the throne room, panting for breath. "Run ahead and tell the guards I'm going to be showing our guests our little… _acquisitions,_ would you?" Jakkari ordered. "I'd like to assure them that we are to be trusted."

"At once, Your Excellency," Jigado said with a bow and scurried away. Once he was out of sight Jakkari popped the cork on a bottle of a wine beside his throne, offering it to his three guests. None of them accepted a glass.

He was deeply amused by their suspicion.

* * *

Jakkari and Sess led the way through his home to this "acquisition" he wanted to show them, taking the lead to assure Liss and the others he wasn't about to stab them in the back, he'd joked.

At least, it sounded like a joke.

They went down a long staircase into the depths of the building past armed guards every so often. Jakkari was taking no chances on his vault being broken into.

Eventually they reached a heavy iron door with four guards around it, and he reached inside his shirt and pulled out a golden key on a cord around his neck. Surprisingly Sess removed a similar, gunmetal grey key from her own clothing and inserted it into a second, almost unnoticeable keyhole. The door opened, and inside Liss saw something that made her gasp.

It was a pair of roughly round black stones as wide as tractor tires and high as her waist. Just looking at them made her fake eye quiver uncomfortably in its socket from the emanations they gave off.

"These, my friends, are evidently something the Mythos treasure above all else," Jakkari explained, waving his hand over the massive gems. "Sess and a troop of our bravest warriors managed to capture these from a group of the monsters who'd apparently just recovered them from the depths of some caverns. We believe these contain great power."

"We know," Uthar replied.

Jakkari knitted his brow, frozen into silence for a second, then asked, "And how do you know something like that?" he finally asked.

"It was in the battle where Tarock was given the power of the Empress," Uthar went on, shooting Jakkari a still-suspicious glare. "A Mythos commander used one of those to create a giant fortress like a tree. They have great power, we've seen it for ourselves."

"Then you _already appreciate_ how important it is that the Mythos be kept from collecting these stones, whatever they truly are," Jakkari said, regaining his poise. "If gathering these will increase their power you'll need all the help you can get. Including mine. Unless you're worried I'm too much like my father to be a worthy ally…"

Liss stepped forward and answered him. "I don't know anything about you or your dad. But why did you steal the Arcana's crystals from Mazones, if now you're saying we should trust you?"

Jakkari smiled with a quiet confidence. "I have as much right to fight for the future of the Sphere and the people I rule as any of you! My people need protection as much as yours, and if I'd asked, your people would've just kept these for their own protection thanks to who my father was…I had to have a position of power before I could be taken seriously and have any weight in suggesting an alliance."

Liss silently held out her hand. "We could use more friends at a time like this, yeah. And there's a lot of things in Mazones that need to be fixed," she agreed, hoping she sounded convincing. It had been more than a little while since she honestly cared about trying to talk someone into sharing her position. "But you try anything shady with us, I'll _personally_ make you regret it. We clear?"

Jakkari nodded with a crooked smile and shook Liss's hand. "Does she speak for all of you?"

"We can't be too picky," Uthar admitted, but he looked away from the two of them as he said it.

Thena sank to one knee. "I believe Tarock is right, and I acted too hastily before. We are in need of allies, and this is a dark time for all the Sphere's people, yours included. They deserve to be protected as much as ours."

Jakkari laughed and shook Liss's hand so hard she was almost worried he was trying to pull her arm off until she yanked it away. "I'm glad to hear it! Then tonight let's sleep well and discuss the specifics of our new alliance in the morning!"

* * *

But Liss didn't sleep well that night. Part of it was probably that the bed she was given seemed _too_ big, _too_ soft for her. But a bigger part was worrying about the two stones in Jakkari's vault. If his followers had stolen them from the Mythos, then the Mythos probably knew they were somewhere in the city. And if they were watching the city, they probably knew Liss herself, along with Uthar and one of the last of the Arcana, were there too…

She swung on her coat and gloves and left the room, winding her way through the hallways to the room where Jakkari bid her goodnight. The pair of guards eyed her but didn't try to stop her from knocking on his door repeatedly, so she could tell him she needed to get the stones out of the city right away, but there was no answer.

Finally she went down to the vault, none of the guards trying to stop her, but looking perplexed as she went by about what she could want down there all by herself. When she got to the heavy metal door, the guards standing watch over it found out.

"Open that up. I'm taking those to crystals in there to be destroyed."

They exchanged glances with each other, then answered her, "We can't. Even if he did authorize this, the Baron and his guard have the only keys."

"Of course he did," another voice from behind replied. It was Jigado, a teasing smile peeking out from his beard. "His Excellency's allied himself with the great Tarock, do you really think their will isn't the same now? Open that door."

The guard shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's like I said, the Baron and his guard are the only ones with the keys."

But Jigado reached inside his vest, pulled out a pair of keys dangling on ribbons, one bright gold and the other gunmetal grey. He turned to Liss and held out the grey one. "Care to do the honors with me, Tarock?" he asked, smiling smugly at her as he offered her the key.

"What's going on?" Liss demanded. "I didn't ask—"

" **STOP HIM**!"

Someone else came running down the stairs, Baron Jakkari. There was no humor or confidence in his expression this time, and as Sess ran right behind him she was already wearing her transformation belt. "He stole those keys!" Jakkari exclaimed. "He's a Mythos! He's after the stones!"

"Pity," Jigado sighed and snatched back the key.

Immediately Liss whipped out the Fate Driver and fastened it around her waist. She slammed the Empress Card into its slot, but even as she changed, Jigado did too. The hairs fell out of his beard and grew thicker on his head, the droop of age leaving his face as he reverted into a sleek-featured young man. He whipped off his eye patch and underneath was a ball of writhing white light, and in another second so was the eye she'd been able to see.

But his change didn't end there, as she'd already been expecting. A pair of wide, veined wings exploded from his back and his face narrowed into a pointed reptilian snout with a pair of long white horns pointed backward from behind his head. His arms and torso seemed to ripple with muscle, and a black mark of an eye with a vertical pupil formed over the dark red and purple scales covering his chest. A ball of iron, its studs flickering with a deadly ruby-colored energy, appeared dangling from a chain clutched in Jigado's taloned hand.

"Wyvern, Shadow of the Sky!" Jigado proudly and scornfully proclaimed. "And first god of the new age of darkness to awaken!"

Tarock clutched the haft of her scepter as her armor finished forming around her. For the first time the strength and speed of the Empress Form felt _right_ , a power she could wield to destroy the Mythos. "Fighting fate," she said as the transformation completed.

"Indeed," Wyvern sneered, then suddenly _reached inside the flesh of his chest_ and pulled back out two small dark blue crystals that he smashed on the ground in front of him. Small tornadoes ripped from them and formed into two long-necked lizard men, one with blue scales and the other with red.

Fearfully the vault guards advanced on them, firing small bolts of power from their pistol-like weapons. The lizard men hissed in pain and then fired back. The blue-scaled one breathed a stream of white fumes that spread over one guard and within seconds he was frozen completely solid. The red monster spewed a barrage of fireballs that exploded as they hit the ground and walls, and a pair of the guards screamed and retreated up the stairs, their clothes and hair on fire.

Tarock fired a ray from her scepter, scattering the two lizard men as she charged after Wyvern to stop him from opening the vault, but she was too late. He twisted both keys and shoved the door open, then chains extended from his hands and coiled around the two black stones inside. He spread his massive wings and lifted off the ground, flying up the stairs and straight for the rear wall of the manor. Tarock jumped and grabbed onto one chain then braced herself as Wyvern crashed through the wall but she still held on tight as they careened higher into the sky.

The two lizard men got to their feet, ready to fight again, and Jakkari responded by holding up his card of the hanging man, a belt with a silvery buckle mounted with a glistening red gemstone already around his waist. He glanced over his shoulder to be sure Sess was ready to fight at side.

There was no one there.

He was surprised for a moment, but it didn't matter. Baron Jakkari wasn't someone who needed to hide behind his guards when danger showed itself. He slid the card into its belt.

" **Hanged Man! Major!** " The gem on his belt flashed and power surrounded his body as Jakkari changed. A second later it cleared, but the lizard men looked on their opponent and suddenly didn't seem as confident.

A sleek black mask with angrily slitted grey lenses for eyes concealed Jakkari's face, and a black undersuit had formed over the rest of his body, the only hints of color being a thin red chestplate with a large golden "XII" symbol on it, wristbands and greaves. " **Arms of Fate! Iron Coil!** " the buckle announced and a long rope tied into a loop at the end and giving off a faint metallic sheen appeared in his hand, and he whirled it easily as he walked down the stairs to confront the lizard men.

"Tell your leader she isn't welcome in Noose's house," he said, then even as they opened their mouths and blasted him with a dual barrage of elemental attacks he swung his rope in a wide loop in front of him and easily deflected the ice and fire they shot his way. Then before the monsters could recover from their surprise Noose ran the next few steps, jumped into the air and came down at them with a kick aimed at each of their scaled faces.

* * *

As soon as he was outside Wyvern pumped his huge wings rapidly to get away from Mados, and back to wherever his leader was hiding out. He didn't seem to even realize he had a passenger, maybe he was just so strong the weight of a person was nothing to him. But if Tarock let him get too high, she was afraid even she might not survive the fall, and fired off a beam from her scepter that clipped one wing.

Wyvern let out a cry of surprise and went into a dive trying to shake her off. Tarock gripped the chain as wind whipped past her, then Wyvern changed direction and scraped her off against the side of a building, sending her rolling into the street to a painful stop. But Tarock untangled herself quickly and aimed her scepter high before Wyvern before he could fly out of range.

" **Calamity! Quickening Ray!** " A purple blast ripped from the scepter seeming to trail rose petals as it cut through the air and sliced through the chains Wyvern had tied around the giant black stones. They fell to the street below, and to Tarock's dismay but not surprise, didn't shatter when they hit the ground, instead an explosive boom going up as they punched a massive crater in the middle of the street and took the side off a nearby house.

Wyvern flew down to the edge of the crater and hovered, shaking his head at Tarock in stern disapproval, as if he saw her more as a nuisance than a threat.

"I'd been hoping to save this, but it seems the great Tarock has forced my hand after all," he said, pulling another crystal out of the flesh of his midsection, this one a dark orange in color.

"Another stupid monster to do your fighting for you? What kind of god are you supposed to be?" Tarock challenged.

Wyvern only laughed at her attempt to taunt him. "A god is a being of awesome power with the fates of lesser beings in their hands, isn't it? Even _you've_ managed to become one, after a fashion! But if you're determined to feel a few thunderbolts…" Suddenly he swooped at Tarock, swinging his mace back and forth, battering her across the shoulders and sending crackling arcs of ruby power across her body. Behind her mask Tarock clenched her teeth but refused to let herself cry out or buckle from the pain. Instead she slammed her scepter against his torso, giving off a powerful shock that knocked him back a few feet, but he only came charging through the air again, spinning his mace and smashing it hard into her stomach where the armor was thinnest.

She sank to her knees, but using all her willpower ignored the searing pain of Wyvern's last attack and rose to her feet to fight back. Wyvern had flown in a high loop while she was recovering and as he came back down he started to spin. Within a few seconds a tornado formed in front of him but he pulled back and let it whirl along the ground toward Tarock, who tried to run around it but was pulled inside and thrown into the side of a building and caving in the wall.

Dazed and fighting down pain working its way into every nerve in her body, Tarock lurched out of the house only to see Wyvern throwing down that orange crystal he'd dug out of his body with one hand and lowering another chain into the crater where the giant black stones had fallen.

The crystal shattered and as before a small tornado whirled up from the pieces, starting to take on the shape of something much bigger this time, almost fifteen feet from head to foot, and with six thick legs.

But off to one side, standing underneath a glowing bat-shaped Wild Card, was Sess, watching silently. She didn't have her armor on, and her face seemed blank. But in one hand she held what looked like a stack of three cards…

Wyvern's creation finished solidifying and fell to all six feet with a crash that almost knocked Tarock down again. It was a giant, snub-nosed dragon-like beast, covered in scales the color of dull copper. It had a mess of gnarled yellow claws as long as Tarock's arm on the end of each foot, and stomped closer to show her they were just as sharp as they looked.

She brandished her weapon, but sparks shot from the sides of the Fate Driver and the crystal dome in the center. She refused to show it, not making a sound or daring to look at her belt to see what was wrong, even as her gauntlets flickered away and exposed her hands for a second.

But panic entered Tarock's mind at the thought of the source of her powers being damaged somehow. And as more sparks flew she realized it was more the thought that she could lose being Tarock, lose what had given her the chance she needed to be something more than what anyone ever thought she could be. What had happened that could be making the Driver act like that?

The dragon creature stomped a step closer to her, shaking pieces off nearby buildings. Desperately Tarock aimed the Arm of the Empire at the dragon and focused as much power as she dared to use on it. " **Dire Fate! Imperial Onslaught!** " Purple energy flowed from the gemstone at the tip and formed into armored warriors that rushed out, hacking and smashing with their glowing weapons. The dragon roared angrily and slammed its giant feet, obliterating the ones closest to it before more came. A minute later one of its thick legs went flying.

From where she watched, Sess smiled.

* * *

A blast of frigid gas filled the stairwell leading down to the vault, but Noose came somersaulting backwards through the air, landing at the top with an unsettling grace. The pair of lizard men came charging up after him, Red spraying fireballs from its mouth and Blue breathing itsicy gas. A fireball hit the freezing cloud and an explosive blast of steam ripped through the room. Noose jumped and easily landed in the rafters to escape. He waited a second for the steam to clear enough for him to spot the outlines of his two enemies, then he came down in a ferocious drop kick that knocked one Mythos into the other and left his boot covered in dark blue slime.

The Mythos got to their feet quickly and circled Noose cautiously, Blue clutching the wound in its side from his kick, both monsters looking for an opening to launch a surprise attack. Noose spotted one first.

He threw the looped end of his Iron Coil at Red, then as soon as it fell around the Mythos's neck he yanked it toward him. The surprised Mythos staggered forward and Noose somersaulted into the air and landed an arcing kick on Red's chin.

But as the fire-breathing Mythos went down suddenly Noose's feet were stuck to the floor. He looked down to find his legs encased in ice and the Blue Mythos rushing him from behind, claws flashing and spraying even more freezing vapor at him. He hurriedly threw his rope up toward a corner of the room and the loop tightened around the neck of a stone gargoyle. He pulled with all his might and the gargoyle broke off the wall and came flying down to slam into Blue's back and knock it down too.

Noose threw his rope into the air again, over the Mythos. As it came down it flashed and formed into a net around the two reptilian monsters.

"And they said I was a fool for choosing this as my weapon instead of the claws," Noose murmured to himself in satisfaction.

" **Dire Fate!** **Constrict End!** " The net tightened, strands digging against the monster's bodies. They thrashed as the strands closed, then a burst of foul blue smoke was the only thing marking their destruction.

"Now then…," Noose mused as he wriggled but found himself still caught fast in the ice, "I suppose my next step is finding an ice pick."

* * *

Beams seared through the air from Tarock's scepter as the dragon angrily chased her through the streets, pushing her farther and farther away from where she'd been forced to leave Wyvern and the stones. Her shots left small scorches on its skin but that just seemed to make it try to chase her down even faster. And worse, her armor had started flickering in and out even faster.

Was this really the end?

All of a sudden the angry monster stopped then thrashed around in pain, smashing in the wall of a nearby building as it did. Tarock stopped her attack for a second and saw that a swarm of green crystal praying mantises had jumped onto the dragon's hind legs and were slicing at it with their small bladed arms. More Wild Cards?

While the dragon was trying to shake them off, though, Sess suddenly stepped from the shadows next to Tarock and held out a fan of three cards for her. Tarock looked down at them in confusion, seeing a lion's face rendered in what looked like white marble with a golden mane on the first card, and then a pair of feline legs on the other two. Looking at up Sess for an explanation Tarock was only in time to see the girl smile mysteriously and then slip away.

She tried to "push" a bit of her energy into these new cards like she had with Wild Cards in the past, but when nothing happened she tried holding them up in front of her failing Driver instead. A light from the crystal dome shined over them, and as a burst of sparks flew it announced, " **Aw-awaken! Royal Leo!** "

The cards yanked themselves out of Tarock's hand and flew into the air where the images on them flew off and expanded again, and again, two pairs of powerful legs and the head of a lion, then united, a body forming between them with a long tail made of what looked like gold wire. The lion, easily as big as the Mythos who'd been chasing her, spotted Tarock and then lowered itself down, inviting her to climb on its back.

By then the Mythos has smashed or scraped most of the mantises off its back and turned its attention back to Tarock, only to find Royal Leo tackling it and pushing it back. The dragon opened its mouth to hiss its anger at its enemy, and as Tarock felt a surge of anger and wanting to just shut the miserable beast up Leo responded by smacking one heavy paw into the Mythos's face, drawing streaks of blue blood with his claws.

The two giant beasts pushed up and down the street for a minute until Tarock saw an opening and all of a sudden Leo broke from the grapple and darted to the side. While the surprised Mythos was falling forward Leo struck with both feet and knocked it through a building.

A second later the Mythos angrily jumped out of the pile of rocks and debris that collapsed on top of it, flying hundreds of feet into the air. Royal Leo was waiting as it came back down, when suddenly in midair a massive frill opened around the dragon's head, a gleaming bone hook sticking out along it every few feet. They glowed suddenly and then a sizzling beam fired from each and rained down on Tarock and Royal Leo.

One beam hit Tarock square in the chest and knocked her off Leo's back. Her armor crackled painfully and faded again. She clenched her teeth and focused every bit of her will on not allowing herself to change back and even though the Fate Driver shook terrifyingly for a few seconds, her armor held.

She managed to climb onto Leo's back again just as the Mythos landed and the frill on his neck opened again and beams ripped down the street. A few buildings around them collapsed from the barrage, and Tarock wished she somehow knew what Royal Leo could really do. At this rate they were going to be wiped out.

But again Leo seemed able to sense her thoughts. He growled low as a beam sizzled against his shoulder, leaving a burn mark, then charged down the street shaking the buildings around him lightly with his powerful, thudding steps. After a second he suddenly curled into a ball and rolled the rest of the way with a shield seeming to form around him and Tarock that deflected another pair of beams up into the sky.

Leo crashed into the Mythos and knocked it into the air before it landed helplessly on its back with a crash. Now, now was the time to attack and finish it off, Tarock thought.

" **Cataclysm! Pride Blaze!** " Royal Leo's body was warm with power that traveled up Tarock's body too, and more than ever she felt that she and Royal Leo were one. She saw the Mythos getting back up through his eyes, felt an even greater desire to destroy that thing and all of its filthy kind.

"Fighting fate!" Tarock yelled. She held on tight as Leo leaned forward and roared loud, louder than Tarock had heard from him yet. Then all the power enveloping them grew even hotter and Royal Leo charged the Mythos, swiping furiously with his giant claws and hacking the Mythos away to a huge puff of blue smoke.

"Now for Wyvern," Tarock said to herself.

Leo growled his agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile the so-called god of the new age had tied another pair of chains around the dark stones was flying out of the street make his getaway with them while Tarock was busy with his creation. He was rising into the sky when suddenly a giant ghostly hand reached from the ground and grabbed onto one of the stones.

Wyvern glanced down and below him sawn Thena, the arm stretching out from her wrist. Her strength was pathetic, another few seconds and he'd pull free and be out of her reach. But next to her was a human he didn't recognize for a moment, then he placed them: it was the man who'd accompanied Tarock when she'd fought the Warlock. That sorcerous fool, placing his faith in a power outside himself…

But the man had a stack of cards in each hand, showing the image of a horned beetle. As Wyvern pulled harder to escape Thena's grip the cards split into crystal fragments and reassembled into a swarm of glistening beetles. They flew into the air and then gathered around one of the chains Wyvern was trying to use to haul the stones away and then stabbed and scraped at the links with their horns. Seconds later one of the chains had been chewed halfway through.

"Your ignorance of your own helplessness is amusing, but tiresome," Wyvern said and flew even higher. Then he saw something that made the words stick in his throat. A white and gold shape had jumped to the roof of a nearby building and then came flying up at him.

It was Tarock, riding a giant lion. The lion swiped at Wyvern with one paw as it went past, and while he twisted out of the way it hit the chain weakened by the beetles and sliced through.

The stone started to fall and Wyvern just beat his wings and rose into the sky, out of even Tarock's reach. He still had one stone, and it would make the Mother even greater than she was now. She wouldn't be pleased he'd lost the other, but better one than none.

Royal Leo landed with a crash. He turned around, but already Wyvern was shrinking into the distance. There'd be no catching him this time, even with help from Tarock's new friend.

Uthar ran up then, stopping cautiously a few feet away from Royal Leo. "Tarock? Where did you get this…creature?" he asked.

"Jakkari's little bodyg—" Tarock started to reply. But then her Fate Driver shook violently, gave off a piercing metal whine, and exploded.

She wasn't even conscious when she hit the ground.

* * *

No dreams about Lost or the Mythos came to torment Liss before she woke up to find herself lying on the bed in Baron Jakkari's guest room again, and she flailed and rolled in the soft mattress for a second before managing to get enough traction to sit up.

The first thing she saw was Thena sitting in a corner, helmet off but bandages wrapped around her eyes. In spite of this she had Liss's coat in her hands and was sewing shut some fresh tears in the material.

"…what are you doing?" was the first thing Liss found herself asking.

"I was waiting for you to wake up," Thena answered.

"I meant why are you sewing my coat?"

"I thought I would fill the time productively," Thena answered, again casually and simply.

"You're like a knight or something though, right? Since when do they _sew_?"

"That's exactly why I appreciate the value of a protective garment," Thena replied, still unfazed. "In a world as hostile as the Sphere's become, every advantage is precious."

Liss just shook her head and climbed out of bed, grunting at a large ache from her midriff which was wrapped in bandages. That was right, the Fate Driver exploded…

"Where's my belt?" she demanded.

"I believe the soldier from the Sphere took it for examination," Thena replied.

Liss growled and threw open the door to the hall. Over a protest from Thena she lurched down to Jakkari's throne room, grimacing in pain all the way. No one tried to stop her except Thena who was right behind her, and everyone looked up when she walked in, interrupting a discussion between Uthar and Baron Jakkari. In Uthar's hands were the blackened remains of her Fate Driver. Sess watched as she stood next to Jakkari's throne.

"Ah!" Jakkari smiled and looked over at Uthar triumphantly. "It seems I win."

"Win what?" Liss demanded, her horrified gaze locked on what was left of what had given her powers.

"He bet me you'd be up and around again today instead of a few days from now," Uthar replied as he glared back at Jakkari. "But I didn't accept his little wager."

She grabbed the Fate Driver from between them and turned it over and over in her hands, staring in disbelief at its twisted casing and shattered crystal dome in the middle. It had been damaged once early in her adventures, but this…there was no coming back from this. It was probably lucky she was even alive when it blew up.

"Why did it do that?" she asked quietly, trying to let the revelation that it was all over settle in slowly.

Uthar shrugged lightly. Lightly. He could he take something like this so lightly?! "From what I'm told the Empress was one of the most powerful of the Arcana, Tarock. I think it overloaded the Driver."

"But this never gave me—"

"It's hundreds of years old, my dear," Jakkari cut in with a soft smile. "And while you should have some interesting scars from its failure, our friend had a proposal I think you'd like to hear."

Liss looked over at Uthar, who still gave Jakkari a sharp glare for another second before he explained. "Perhaps you noticed those belts the Baron and his guard wear, that let them transform the way you do. Well, Mazones wasn't the only city his people snuck into to help themselves to objects of power, was it?"

Jakkari smirked lightly but said nothing.

Turning back to Liss, Uthar went on, "Those are Arc Drivers, that the Emperor meant for mortal warriors in order to transform using the powers of the Arcana. _Since it seems we have a few that need to be replaced anyway_ ," he said with a sideways glare over at Jakkari, "I'll have another made specially for you, with our finest Ora Stones. And the Baron won't even complain that his bodyguard gave you those cards that became your new companion since he owes us for his belt, will he?"

Jakkari's smile didn't budge an inch. "It'll be my pleasure. But Sess is going to be waiting a good long while before I think about having another set like that made for her, if she's going to give them away so freely."

Sess looked over at Liss, and for just a second she smiled and winked. Liss arched an eyebrow, but felt thought for a second she felt her cheeks warming.

Uthar handed Liss a pile of cards then, pulling her back to reality. Her first four, the Empress one she was just figuring out, and three blank white ones that must've been the ones that created Royal Leo. It would probably be a while before she could use them again, even after she had a working Driver.

She managed a tired smile. "Thank you. Thank you both."

"You're welcome," Jakkari answered, giving her a charming smile. But Uthar took her by the hand. Liss was so surprised she almost jerked away, and she might've still if her midriff wasn't covered in painful cuts.

"Thank _you_ , Tarock," he said, the words warm and heartfelt. "I've got something to do when I get home. Will you come with me, so I can show you?"

Liss nodded. "Yeah, I think I will."

Jakkari laughed loudly then and before any of them could decline he popped the cork off the bottle of wine he'd tried to offer them before. "A toast, my friends! A toast to the alliance between our peoples! And this time I won't take no for an answer!" He snapped his fingers and servant ran out of the room. "To a new age, with new champions!"

"Shouldn't we wait for glasses before we make a toast?" Uthar muttered.

"This is too grand to wait, my friend! Even a soldier must know how to enjoy himself at a time like this!" Jakkari grinned. "We are the champions of four different peoples, united against the Mythos threat!...Do you know what we should do? The gathering where the first Tarock was to be appointed had four representatives, a king, a queen, a knight and page, so should we!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Uthar asked tiredly.

But Jakkari grinned even wider and shook his head as the servant dashed back into the room expertly carrying a silver tray carrying empty wine glasses, not dropping a one of them. "Indeed I am not!" the Baron said as he handed the bottle to his servant. "And think of the morale boost if were presented to the people like that, a second coming of heroes! Surely a man in your position can appreciate the value in such things."

"Let me guess, you'll be our 'king'," Uthar said, the words dripping out of his mouth.

"Of course!" Jakkari replied triumphantly. "And I don't think there's any doubt who our queen will be," he went on, smiling over at Liss.

She shrugged. "I never really thought about it, but I guess…I kind of have to."

"And who shall fill our other roles?"

"I'll be this page if you need one so badly," Thena immediately volunteered, passing Liss her mended coat.

Liss looked down at it, put it on and then studied Thena for a minute before saying, "Are you sure? Isn't that the lame one? I mean, you're one of the last Arcana."

But Thena shook her head and smiled. Liss didn't think she'd ever seen her do that before. "I think I've been one of those too long. I could stand to learn what humility is again."

Jakkari held out his hand graciously to Uthar. "Which, if I'm not mistaken, would make our envoy from Avalon our knight, leading the forces of good into battle against the legions of darkness. Surely you've got nothing to complain about then, friend!"

"I'm not your friend yet," Uthar grumbled.

But Jakkari seemed to grin so wide Liss worried his cheeks were about to tear. "Then let's fix that!" he exclaimed and grabbed a glass of sparkling red wine from the platter. "To bright futures, and glorious battles!"

The throne room rang as the rest of them rang their glasses against his. "To brighter futures," Thena echoed.

"And glorious battles!" Jakkari reminded her.

* * *

Wyvern, now wearing the face of a handsome young man, easily carried the stone he'd recovered on his shoulder as he marched into the Dark Mother's chamber.

Leaning against one wall, arms folded over his chest and a dismissive look on his face, was Ivan Tawanovitch. "Proud of that face you've gotten back, I see," he scoffed.

"That's your problem," Wyvern retorted. "Your mission is the only thing you _ever_ think about. I've joined a god, I'm going to enjoy the bonuses." Ivan made a scornful "pffft," but Wyvern paid no attention. He threw the giant dark stone across the room where it skidded noisily across the reflective floor, stopping just in front of a pulsating mass hidden mostly in the shadows on the far side of the chamber.

A thin tendril slithered into the light and touched the stone. After a second it melted into a dark puddle and the tendril sucked it up until not even a blemish showed on the floor, then retreated into the darkness.

 _You said there were_ _ **two**_ , a high-pitched, irritated voice sounded in both their heads.

"Yes, you did, didn't you?" Ivan repeated.

"At least I recovered _one_ ," Wyvern replied. "You didn't even manage to save the one Warlock found. That's probably lost forever, thanks to you!"

There was a horrific **crack** ing sound, and both feel to their knees in pain.

 _Enough of this_ , the Dark Mother spoke. _He was called because his transformation had not completed. Now it has, and while Wyvern's conduct was the best he might have managed with such resistance, from now on more is expected of you. You are pitiful, short-lived humans how've been elevated to something more. Something_ significant _. To ensure your place at my side when the darkness falls, you must gather more followers and assemble the pieces of my being without fail. Succeed and your rewards will be ever greater power. Fail, and your sufferings will be greater than a human mind can comprehend._

"Understood, Mother," Ivan replied. "But where is our illustrious third member?"

 _She is undertaking the most important task of all_.

* * *

Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…

(Virginia tosses and turns in her sleep as a shadow in her bedroom forms into a monster in black robes with a featureless white head)

Angelo: A monster in your room?

(A man with red hair sweeps the rooms with an EMF meter)

Ben Jordan: Something's here…something very powerful, and _evil_.

(A man in a welder's mask and toting a bloodstained machete and a stooped, deformed man with a giant pair of scissors appear from the shadows)

Angelo: Where the hell is Liss?!

(Virginia's hand glows purple as the killers close in)

Virginia: I guess someone else will have to be the hero this time…

Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.

* * *

 **Well, there it finally is, another chapter of Tarock up. Kind of long and lot happens, but think of it as an extra-length special after a while away.**

 **Liss is going to be out of action for a while, but I have some other characters I'd like to focus on for a while anyway. This next chapter I've been looking forward to writing, got some references to some horror stuff I've been wanting to use in something of mine for a while. And no, unfortunately that's not Slender Man.**


	6. Reading 31: Terror Obscura

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Thirty-One: Terror Obscura**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos, to prove herself, at least to her own self.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

But ultimately Lost was captured, and with her the leader of the Mythos recombined into her true form, a shapeless horror called the Dark Mother by her followers.

Liss is undaunted, however, and with every-growing powers of her own and surprising new allies, is determined to fight this to the end and find some way to save Lost.

For the time being, however, the source of her powers has been destroyed, leaving her unable to become Kamen Rider Tarock.

* * *

The work crew from Mados rolled the massive black stone, something the Mythos valued, to a stop at the curb of the small park.

Sess, the bodyguard of Mados's ruler, and Uthar, the leader of the military of another of the Sphere's civilizations, looked on. Liss gave Sess a glance over one shoulder. She still wasn't sure if she could trust her, or the faction she represented, even if Mados's ruler had been eager for them all to join forces, and if Sess herself had given Liss a powerful new addition to her arsenal. Liss accepted their offer of help, but she'd made a lot of very dangerous enemies since she became Kamen Rider Tarock, and didn't see any reason to break the habit of being careful now.

"And what exactly is supposed to happen here?" asked one of the workers, wiping sweat from his forehead and blinking fatigue from his eyes. It was understandable, Liss supposed, with how she'd insisted on taking the stone back to her town to dispose of it right away, and Mados's ruler had been all too willing, waking his best people up in the middle of the night to do the job.

Uthar just smiled slightly and answered for Liss. "You just wait another second and you'll see."

He did. The bark on the silver tree Liss had planted in the middle of the park shimmered and a beam of light _flowed_ from the tip of the tree's highest branch over the black stone. As the light shined down on it, bits of the stone broke off and floated up through the ray of light into the tree. Sess's eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth in silent awe. Within a minute the stone was gone, but the tree was suddenly growing, its branches extending out another foot as large purple blossoms formed on them.

Uthar spoke up. "Please understand I'm not mocking the power of this tree you've created in the slightest, Tarock, but you really think this proves you can still save that friend of yours from the Mythos?"

She nodded tiredly. "I _have_ to believe that. She had the power to create monsters, but this tree gets bigger and stronger after it destroys these things the Mythos want so bad. I have to believe that means the same thing can be done to the Dark Mother or whatever the hell they're calling her now."

He smiled and looped his arm around her back to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Your conviction is so incredible and yet so…effortless. I feel like I shouldn't believe in a goal that's so optimistic, but I do. I almost have to."

"Well…thanks," Liss said, not sure quite what else to say. She'd accepted that she needed to be the symbol of hope of the Sphere's people, but having people say it to her face still felt weird. For so long, she'd only been worried about proving her own strength and eventually looking out for Lost. This was still very new to her.

She'd just realized where Uthar's hand was when Sess sidled up next to them and passed a note to him. "Um," he started to speak, then stopped. His face seemed to have gone red. "No, I'm not," he said to Sess, who was grinning.

"You aren't what?" Liss asked.

"Nothing," Uthar replied and started crumpling up the note but Liss snatched it out of his hand.

It read "Are you Tarock's bodyguard or lover?"

Liss fumed. "Neither. And I don't _need_ a bodyguard."

Uthar loudly cleared his throat. "We've destroyed the stone, shouldn't we be getting to Avalon to have your new belt made, and so I can show you our other contributions?"

"Yeah," Liss said, then looked over her shoulder at the dark outlines of her town's buildings, and wondering where Ben was and if he'd gotten her message asking him to keep an eye on things while she was gone. But all the magical cards she'd gathered, all the power that was Tarock's was useless without a new belt, and the longer she hung around the longer it would be before she had a new one and could come back. "Let's go."

"Excellent. Let me recall our soldiers out by that park…I'll want as much protection as I can get while we're doing this," Uthar replied.

As they disappeared from the town square, a shadow writhed angrily against the corner of a building, furious at the destruction of the black stone Liss and her allies had brought.

* * *

Even though night had set in, the lights were on in Angelo's Dragon Academy. Angelo himself was inside, clad in only his gi pants, his rippling muscles glistening with sweat. Gritting his teeth, he screamed and threw a ferocious chop that split through eleven boards and cracked a twelfth before he'd used up all his force.

He pulled back his hand, the one still healing from when he'd destroyed a Mythos monster himself. Obviously, he should've been letting it heal, and it wasn't as if he couldn't defend himself with one hand tied behind his back. But when he thought that, he found himself thinking about Liss, and how she'd had her _eye_ ripped out by those monsters. And still she kept going, kept fighting even though she'd been maimed. Angelo was supposed to be the one who taught her everything she knew, the person she looked up to…he _had_ to be at 100 percent even if he had to use a shattered hand to be that person. He got up to get another set of boards.

Another terrific crack echoed throughout the building, and upstairs Virginia, his younger daughter, jumped in the upstairs living room as she heard it. "Was that dad or was that the movie?" she asked in a whisper. The only answer she got was an angry glare from Jennifer, her older sister, and a hiss to be quiet from Jennifer's two friends sitting on the couch on either side of her.

Virginia was sitting on a pillow on the floor, while in the flickering light of the TV in the otherwise darkened room they watched a dark-haired teenage girl running down the corridors of a decaying mansion, and suddenly a shrill scream cut the air. The girl peeked through the blinds of a nearby window, and then…

"This is **so** stupid," one of Jennifer's friends groaned. "The second one was way better."

"The second one was retarded," Jennifer argued. "It wasn't scary at all, there was just this boring mystery crap no-one cared about."

"That's **why** it was better. In this one she just wanders around and sometimes the little kid jumps out at her. That isn't scary, it's just stupid!"

But Virginia didn't hear them arguing over the merits of the _Clock Tower_ series. All she could see was the girl onscreen walking through a dimly lit room, full of eerie mannequins wearing ball gowns, when suddenly one shook and…and…

…and the sound was suddenly cranked up to 13 as one of the mannequins suddenly fell over, revealing a hunched figure in a schoolboy's uniform, face horribly malformed and swinging up a pair of four-foot-long scissors.

 **SCHING, SCHING, SCHING** …the blades shrieked as he opened and closed them menacingly. Her sister and her friends didn't even seem to hear it, caught up in their meandering argument about the merits of the _Clock Tower_ movies while ignoring the one playing right in front of them.

Goosebumps raised all over her skin as the girl turned and bolted from the room, the nerve-wracking sound of the giant scissors opening and closing, opening and closing as the boy chased after her.

* * *

The whirr of power tools filled the living room, as on the screen Rick Taylor pitted the cursed powers of his Terror Mask against the undead strength and surgically-grafted menace of Biggy Man's dual chainsaws.

"Are you kidding me? The monster's name is seriously 'Biggy Man'?" Jennifer demanded as again she and her friends talked over the movie again.

"That's what it was named in the script."

"And where'd you read the script?!" Jennifer snapped.

"On the internet. It helps you understand what all went into making the movie end up the way it did."

"Not if it ends up like _this_!"

Again Virginia could only hear their conversation as a dull mumbling coming from a hundred miles away. One of Biggy Man's saws lashed out and cleaved through an entire tree trunk in one swipe, but as it did it bit into Rick's side and came away splattered with red.

Virginia whimpered and hid her face behind the pillow she'd been sitting on.

XXX

The man bound to the stump went totally limp, his trademark trilby hat falling to the ground. The bloodstain on his shirt seemed to spread as the life left him, as he gave it up. It was a shameful admission of defeat in one way, for someone so proud to just will himself to die. But in a greater sense it was the ultimate expression of defiance.

Into the darkened room strode a spindly, inhuman figure in tattered black robes. Its head was nothing but a blank white pock-marked sphere. The chubby balding villain fell to his knees in front of it. "Sire, I present to you your prize…wait, no! He can't be dead! THIS ISN'T MY FAULT!" he wailed as the faceless demon stepped forward and wrapped its powerful hands around his throat.

Jennifer and her friends were snoring on the couch with the all-night horror movie marathon almost over. Virginia peered over the arm of the couch and when she was sure they had all really fallen asleep she snuck into their bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Her sister hadn't even noticed she was there…had hardly been paying attention to the movies at all, with all the talking she and her friends did over them. Why had she even cared about joining in and trying show she was cool?

Virginia sighed. Because she'd wanted to _feel_ cool, and grown up, and brave, and…and…

And she wanted to ease into that before she tried to seriously talk to Liss. The girl who saw a chance at adventure and awesome power, and jumped in with both feet. Who slaughtered monsters and taught kung-fu at her dad's school when she could take time out from all the monsters who needed killing. A fighting goddess who proved everything her father always praised about Kamen Rider Black and the others like him.

Her father had taught Liss everything that Liss knew about fighting and how heroes were supposed to act. Now Virginia wanted to learn that, to see that incredible world that Liss was always vanishing off to and help her.

Of course her father had absolutely refused to entertain any ideas of letting Virginia do things like that. But after the attack on Marvel Land and getting out of the hospital with a clean bill of health, Virginia felt that something about her was different now. Better. Like she _could_ be helpful to Liss, if she could just apply herself and find a way.

But as she started to give in to sleep after staying up all night, she could swear she saw menacing shadows creeping from the corners of the room…

* * *

" **DADDY!** "

Jennifer's two friends jumped in surprise as the scream cut the air. They looked around in panic and spotted Jennifer standing in the doorway to her bedroom, staring inside in shocked disbelief.

A second later Angelo exploded up the stairs, his body still glistening with sweat from his all-night training. He charged toward the room, ready to break another hand killing a Mythos with one punch, but there was no monster.

Instead, the only thing he saw was Virginia, pressed up against the ceiling and blinking her eyes sleepily. Her head of fiery red finger coils dangling down, seemingly the only part of her body still affected by gravity. Around her was a bubble of soft purple light.

"Why's she on the ceiling?!" Jennifer shrieked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Virginia mumbled through her haze of sleepiness. At once her eyes came into focus and she realized everyone else was standing on the ceiling. The bubble around her fizzled away and Virginia screamed in surprise as she fell to the floor with a thump.

"Baby!" Angelo yelled and ran to her. "You okay?!"

"Owwwwwww," Virginia moaned. "What happened?"

Angelo cradled his youngest gently in his powerful arms, but she gently pulled away as the powerful smell of his body odor entered her nose. He was surprised but realized her reason for it and stood up. "I don't know," he said. "But I'm going to call somebody who I bet will."

* * *

"Why do you **always** have to be so weird?" Jennifer groaned as she shuffled along, her eyes bleary from her own lack of sleep thanks to the horror movie marathon. She'd been given the vital job of keeping an eye on Virginia while they went to the corner store to fill up the fridge while their father called in an expert to explain how Virginia had gotten stuck to the ceiling. "Did hanging around that Liss chick give **you** some kind of **freak** powers too?" Jennifer mumbled irritably.

"You shut your mouth! You wouldn't even be here complaining if it wasn't for her! Remember when all those monsters showed up at Marvel Land?" Virginia snapped, and for a second Jennifer recoiled, surprised at her sister's fierce retort, but she recovered quickly. She walked ahead briskly, leaving Virginia behind. It was just as well, Virginia didn't want her moment ruined by having to deal with her sister.

She had powers! Real, honest to god powers! That crystal had done something to her after all! She'd need to figure out how they worked, but after that, she could probably get Liss to take her to the Sphere! The monsters were so strong now they'd even started showing up in her town, after all, and that meant Liss needed all the help she could get.

Her dad would resist the idea with all his might, but he was the one who was always telling everyone how Kamen Rider Black was the best person who ever lived for risking it all to take on people like Gorgom. They couldn't be that different from the Mythos, could they?

But as she passed a narrow alley, for just a second she was sure she saw something step out of a shadow. A hunched figure wielding a pair of scissors as tall as he was…

Virginia shrieked in terror and fell back. She pointed her hand at the menacing shape and for just a second a long staff seemed to appear in her hand, and a bolt of crackling energy jumped from the end and screamed down the alley. It exploded deafeningly and tore a jagged hunk out of the corner of the building it hit.

Another scream went up, and this time it was Jennifer at what she'd just seen her little sister do. "What was THAT?! Did you do that on purpose? Could you blow up the house accidentally if you did that again?!"

"He was in there! Between the buildings!"

"Who was?!"

"Scissorman!" Virginia answered.

Jennifer stood up straight and slowly, her fear fading. "Like from _Clock Tower_?"

"Yeah! Like from the movie!" Virginia cried out.

The response wasn't what she expected. Jennifer slapped her forehead and sighed. "Are you that obsessed with Liss Decker and her crazy monster crap you're seeing made-up monsters in the dark now?"

"He was there!" Virginia insisted.

Jennifer sighed. "There's no such thing. It's just a movie."

"How the hell can you say something like that when you _know_ monsters are real?" Virginia demanded.

Jennifer didn't answer with words right away. Instead she grabbed her little sister's arm, hauled her to feet, and dragged her down the street to the minimart. She tossed Virginia inside and shut down any further discussion with a withering glare. "That doesn't mean _everything's_ real, Ginny," she snapped. "That's **just a movie**. Even if you go help Liss Decker do whatever **freak** thing she's doing now, how are you gonna help her if you think you're seeing monsters who aren't even real?"

* * *

Fuming from her sister refusing to take her seriously, Virginia said nothing else through the rest of their shopping trip and after they'd put everything away she went to their room and pretended to read a book but couldn't focus.

She _had_ seen Scissorman, even if it was just for a second. His weird face with the sunken eyes at different levels, and the baggy blue skin, the mouth of horrible uneven yellow teeth and brandishing the giant jagged scissors that gave him his name…

As she thought of that terrifying face she started dozing off, not having slept all night finally catching up to her. The room went hazy around her and her eyelids seemed to become too heavy to hold up.

"Muhurhurhur…"

Virginia shook as she heard the noise, partway between a laugh and a gurgle. It came again, louder and closer, and her eyes shot open to the blurred sight of her darkened room. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision as she heard the sound again, this time from right behind her.

Icy fear creeping up her back, Virginia whipped around and there, towering over her was a man wearing a welding mask and a ragged leather apron, chuckling as he waved a chipped, bloodstained machete back and forth over her head with dirt-smeared, scarred hands…

It was the Welder, one of the villains of the horror series she'd sat through last night.

More out of instinct than anything else Virginia thrust out a hand warningly and a purple outline of a staff formed in her grasp. Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps coming her way from the outside room. She looked up at the Welder, but he wasn't there anymore. There was no sign he ever had been. A second later the door opened and there stood her father, and next to him was a man she'd never seen, with a blinking gadget in his hand.

He had dull red hair and a plain face, and was wearing a slightly tattered leather jacket and green pants. "Hi," he smiled politely to Virginia. "Is everything all right?"

"No!" she yelled. "The Welder was in here! He was going to try kill me!"

" _Who_ was in here?" Angelo asked as he looked around, seeing no sign of an intruder.

"You mean like the bad guy from _7 Days a Skeptic_?" the other man asked Virginia, which drew a baffled look from Angelo, but his daughter gave the man a grateful nod.

Angelo flicked the lights on. "Baby, Mr. Jordan's a paranormal investigator, he came to try to look into what happened this morning," he said, and turned to the other man. "Thanks for driving up all of a sudden. The people I'd usually ask about this kinda stuff aren't here right now, Mr. Corland."

"Jordan," the man corrected him. "And pity. I'd really like the chance to talk to them about all that. But please, call me Ben."

"This is gonna be kinda confusing," Virginia muttered, and the man looked at her for an explanation. "We already know a guy named Ben," she explained, then knitted her brow. "But I don't really know where he went."

He nodded at her and gave her a game attempt at a friendly smile. "Well, I guess I could live with 'Mr. Jordan' if he does come by," he said.

Virginia gave Ben a curious look. "You ever heard of Kamen Riders?" she asked.

He nodded. "Kind of. I heard about one with red armor who could run super-fast when I was visiting Japan, but I never got a chance to see him myself. Your dad said there've been a whole lot around here."

She nodded a little, calming down from the sight of the Welder. "My dad's like the biggest fanboy ever of Kamen Rider Black. At class he tries to tell everybody they should be like Kamen Rider Black, but he won't even think about letting me fight monsters. Guess it's too late, since I have powers after all."

"You can just wipe that smile off your face, young lady," Angelo retorted. "Even if it turns out you do have special powers or something now, that doesn't make you Liss's sidekick! And you deserve better than to run around after monsters in dirty caves for the rest of…" He trailed off, realizing he was ranting at his child in front of a stranger he'd invited to help them solve their strange problem. "I'll go start some coffee, Mr. Jordan, if you don't mind working kinda late tonight."

Ben nodded. "That's fine. That's when most of the things in my line of work seem to happen anyway. I'm going to talk to Virginia for a bit before I get started, though." Angelo nodded and walked out of the room. Ben cleared his throat and then gently asked, "So, your dad tells me a little while ago there was a big monster fight at an amusement park near here, and after it was over he said some kind of big crystal hit you. Then this morning you woke up stuck to the ceiling."

"It isn't just that," Virginia whispered, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I didn't just see the Welder today, I saw Scissorman this afternoon. From _Clock Tower_." Ben nodded his recognition. "And both times this weapon or something, this big stick appeared in my hand. The first time it shot a laser and blew the back corner off a building. I didn't tell my dad."

He nodded again, patiently she thought. "Can you tell me where the crystal came from?" he asked.

And so she explained what she knew: about the Warlock creating a giant fortress at Marvel Land and turning loose four monster that a bunch of Kamen Riders had showed up to fight while Liss and a soldier from the Sphere went after the Warlock himself. About Liss unleashing a new form she'd never had before and destroying the Warlock, and the crystal that empowered him flying off as he was destroyed and hitting Virginia. The visit to the emergency room where they found nothing wrong with her, and then the horror movie marathon right before she started seeing monsters from it.

He surprised her with his next question. "So, do you like scary movies, then?"

Virginia couldn't help gaping at him. He didn't ask her when Liss or somebody actually important would be around for him to talk to, or if she knew anything about where a Mythos hideout or something like that might be. Not even if her dad had met Kamen Rider Black and what he'd learned from running into a legendary hero face to face. Only if she liked scary movies.

"Mmmm, no," she answered. "I mean, my sister made fun of me when she said she was having her friends over to watch the movie marathon…that I couldn't even handle watching that with them, and if I couldn't deal with fake monsters how was I ever going to be able to help out Liss."

He nodded. "She sure sounds like your idol."

Virginia blushed a little and looked away, embarrassed to have it pointed out like that. "Why not?"

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with having somebody you look up to. I got into doing what I doing because my granddad was into the supernatural," Ben replied. "The rest of my family thought it was weird how I was into scary movies and things like that, but not him. Now I'm solving weird mysteries for a living, and I got to meet some amazing people who do it too.

"But you always have to stand by your choices," Ben added. "My family wasn't crazy about me before, and with the job I do now, family gatherings are kind of weird. I've met actual monsters, and I've almost been killed by them just as many times. If you want to hang around a superhero, that's probably going to happen to you even more than it has to me." She gave him a confused look, that he was telling her all this. "Just saying, based on my own experience. Look, those monsters came from that park, right? Why don't we go there? Sometimes a powerful event like that leaves a kind of imprint, and maybe you can spark it with her power to give us some answers. It might be dangerous if there really are monsters around, but…"

"Sounds like a plan," Angelo interrupted as he walked back in with a mug of coffee in each hand, and passed one to Ben. "But if you two are going, _I'm_ going. _End_ of discussion," he added, giving Virginia a pointed glare.

Ben nodded and smiled, blood fired with the promise of the search. "Then let's drink up."

* * *

In the dark with no-one around, Marvel Land looked even scarier than it had with a bunch of monsters attacking the guests. The shadowy hulks of heavy machinery, brought in to repair the damaged attractions thanks to donations from the bands, seemed to loom twice as big in the beams of Ben and Angelo's flashlights. It looked as if they might lunge down and attack the three of them across the chain link fence.

Despite the jagged tipped wires at the top, Angelo gripped the top of the mesh with his injured hand, and with a yell he yanked it down onto the ground, making it easy for them to step on it and into the grounds. Ben gave Virginia a questioning look as he led the way, then back over his shoulder at her father, almost as if he wondered if there was something more than human to Angelo.

She just smiled and walked carefully over the twisted fence and onto the park grounds, wondering the same thing.

As he trailed behind Angelo, who insisted on going first in case there _were_ monsters lurking and holding up his bandaged hand as his proof of being able to handle them, Ben waved around a small gadget. It had an antenna and a row of LED lights that faded up and down as he slowly swung it, but it never rose above about halfway.

"What's that?" Virginia asked.

"An EMF meter. There are kinds of supernatural creatures out there that give off a kind of 'tingle' that this can pick up."

"Do Mythos do that?" Virginia asked.

Ben shrugged. "I don't know. This is going to be my first time investigating anything like this, creatures that from what you tell me are capable of taking on numerous different kinds of forms."

The trio went silent as they ventured deeper into the park, past rides Virginia remembered going on with the other Ben before the monster outbreak. Straining her eyes she could see the outline of the stage where the bands had performed for all the trapped guests to keep them from panicking. For just a second she thought she saw a pair of eyes glowing in the sweep of her father's flashlight, but then she blinked and there was nothing where she was sure she'd seen it. All at once the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, and goosebumps raced up her body.

She slipped up to her father's side and whispered, "Daddy, I think I just saw something looking at us over by the stage."

He whispered back, "Where?"

"If I point it'll know we saw it."

"It's obvious we're looking for something anyway," Angelo replied.

Suddenly Ben's meter lit all the way up and started crackling frantically with static. He tried waving it around to tell where his reception was coming from when a dark figure slipped out from the space between two rides and started coming straight for them.

Angelo went into a defensive stance, but whoever it was coming at them wasn't running or flashing their powers or roaring to try and scare them like it seemed a monster would. Instead they were striding quickly closer, holding out a metal wand with a blue fire glowing at the end.

"Who's there?!" a human voice demanded. Ben swung his flashlight across them, revealing them to be wearing a bright blue uniform and a glistening mask made of the glistening silvery metal harness across their chest, with the emblem of a wand inside a small crystal dome on one side. It was one of the soldiers who'd come from the Sphere to secure the park after the monsters attacked it.

"What do you think you're doing here?" he demanded.

"Looking for monsters we have reason to believe might be in the area," Ben replied immediately, as if that was nothing special.

The soldier scoffed at them. "And what are you going if you find one? Ask it to leave nicely?"

"These two are friends of Kamen Rider Tarock," Ben explained. "If there _is_ a monster around here, there's probably a reason she'd need to hear about."

Still the soldier was unimpressed. "You say that like you think she's our leader. If Tarock wanted to help why did she never come and identify herself, her intentions to anyone before?" he retorted. "… **halt!** "

He brandished his wand at someone who'd just melted out of the shadows behind them. Someone impossibly tall, with stick-thin arms waving back and forth at their sides. Ben whirled around and aimed his flashlight at them, and Virginia's jaw dropped in shock.

The thin figure was clad in rotted robes covered in magical symbols, once white but long since stained black by grime and the blood of its owner's countless victims. In one bony hand he effortlessly carried a thick metal staff with a curved blade sticking out in four different directions from the tip. Most terrifying all of was his face, which was nothing but white orb, his features ground away to nothing by centuries of service to his uncaring master.

It was Cabadeth, Prince in the service of Chzo, the idiot god of endless pain and senseless cruelty.

The soldier charged Cabadeth and launched the fireball on the end of his weapon at the faceless demon. But even as he attacked, Cabadeth seemed to grow half a foot taller and did nothing to defend himself from the fireball which exploded harmlessly against his chest. Cabadeth's staff and the soldier's wand met in midair and a burst of blinding white light ripped through the area.

The next thing Virginia knew she was running and someone was pulling on her arms. The light of the flashlights bounced around crazily showing glimpses of signs on attractions and piles of girders and construction equipment as Ben and her father dragged her away from the fight as fast as they could go.

Ben Jordan was used to interacting with the supernatural, and her father had killed a Mythos once with his bare hands. But this was different: an army of monsters right out of the horror movies were after her. Probably something to do with that crystal that hit her after the Warlock died. The two of them were risking her lives to help her find out why and keep her safe, but even they didn't stand a chance. Virginia needed to get away, to draw the monsters' attention to her…

And all at once a purple glow flooded her eyes. Not far away she could see Cabadeth overwhelm his opponent and fly along the ground after her, but even closer she could see another outline coming their way. "There's another one, really close!" she warned the others. "It's huge…"

The glow went out as she saw what it was. A bloated, misshapen humanoid form, its skin was blue and purple from the touch of death in the beam of Ben's flashlight. It was garbed in rags with a burlap bag tied over its head and a roaring chainsaw grafted to its wrists in place of hands.

Virginia recognized this one too: it was Biggy Man, the notorious slasher from _Splatterhouse_. Her sister and her friends had been making fun of him before; she didn't see anything funny about it now.

A second later Cabadeth came up from behind them, seeming even taller while still being impossibly thin to lift his weapon. At his side was the Welder, slicing the air with his machete.

But lift it he did, gliding forward to bring it down on Virginia's head. Angelo jumped at him and grabbed the staff before he could bring it down, then slammed a powerful kick into the demonic servant's chest. Cabadeth started flying backward from the impact but he suddenly disintegrated into a puff of shadow that flew behind Angelo and reformed not just into Cabadeth, but now the Welder toting his blood-flecked machete was at his side.

Angelo threw his strongest flying kick at the Welder, but the masked villain just planted his feet and Angelo smacked into him and fell to the ground. Biggy Man closed in, dragging his saws across the ground and sending up trails of sparks as their engines roared angrily. He brought them above his head and then swung at Angelo with all his inhuman might, and he just barely rolled out of the way before the saws chewed into the ground.

"Come on!" Ben exclaimed and grabbed Virginia's arm to lead her away from the battle. She tried to pull free, to go and help her father, but Ben only tightened his grip. "I think I know what to do, but you have to trust me and I need a minute to explain!"

* * *

He dragged her out of sight and into a tiny restaurant back away from the fight with the monsters that was unfolding. Once Ben had caught his breath a minute later he spoke quickly. "I don't know how 'Mythos' work, but I think they're showing up in the forms they are because they know it scares you, and that makes them stronger."

"How do you know that?"

"Just based on what you said before. It sounded like before they could only show up for a little bit, like maybe they were just taking shape, trying to scare you so they could feed on it. Now there's a bunch of them all at once."

 **SCHING…SCHING…SCHING…** came the unmistakable sound of Scissorman's namesake. "So what do they want? Is it that crystal? Is that what's doing all this?"

Ben nodded slowly in the beam of his flashlight. "But that's the thing about fear: it gives the other guy more power and takes yours away. If you can stop giving them power, you probably start using your own."

"How?"

"There's a lot of answers to that," Ben answered. "What would Kamen Rider Tarock do, though?"

 **SCHING…SCHING…** Ben shut off his flashlight, but a second later a massive blade plunged through the wall between them and Scissorman came crashing through after it, spraying debris everywhere. Virginia landed hard on her back and pain shot up her spine. Ben pulled an aerosol can out of his inside pocket and used it to aim a stinging spray right into Scissorman's eyes. For a second the killer snarled in rage and retreated a few steps to rub his eyes clear.

In that second Virginia grabbed the edge of a table and pulled herself up. What would Liss do? Liss wouldn't hesitate when a friend was in trouble, she thought. She'd jump right into battle even with the biggest, nastiest monsters.

But…it wasn't just about what you'd do when a friend was in trouble, was it? Protecting her friends, her family, if she honestly got the chance, that was important, but if the Mythos weren't stopped _the entire world_ would probably be destroyed.

Wasn't that what Kamen Riders fought to prevent, as her father had told her and his students? Giving up normal lives, love, and everything else so other people could go on pursuing theirs? Kamen Rider Black had done that, she'd been told countless times. Liss Decker, Kamen Rider Tarock, had given herself to the fight against the Mythos.

She idolized Liss…Tarock, for her bravery. Tarock had become who she was because she'd seen an incredible thing happening and wanted to know more, _be_ more. Even if this is what it meant.

How could Virginia do any different?

 **SCHING…SCHING…SCHING!** The scream of Scissorman's weapon seemed even louder, eager to cut through Ben to get to her. Ben jumped between Virginia and the recovered killer, even just to give her another second to make her move. A fire seemed to engulf her…

..and in a flash of light a long black staff encrusted with blue and purple gems was in her hand. At the tip was an ornate golden ring with three smaller golden rings inside that swung and that swung back and forth within each other, crackling with power. A bolt jumped from them and slammed into Scissorman, knocking him through a window with a crash Virginia didn't even hear over the rush of energy coursing through her body. Ben held up his arms as there was another flash of light and threw down his EMF meter in terror as it flashed and then exploded on the ground from an unbelievable overload.

When he could see again Virginia was garbed in a suit of armor whose colors seemed to give off an energy letting him see even them though it was the middle of the night. Over a black undersuit she now had on a dark purple cuirass with blue shoulder armor and a golden numeral I on the chest. Thick purple armor plating covered her forearms and tapered off into spiky blue extensions. Purple greaves shielded her legs and thin plates of the same color hung off her belt covering her hips, which was fastened by a gunmetal grey buckle. And shielding her face was a mask with a silver mouthplate, a fan of purple armor plating on each side of her face. The look of the armor was rough, unrefined with a dull finish and jagged edging on the plates, but the yellow eyes were as bright as Kamen Rider Tarock's themselves.

She easily carried the metal staff in one hand before jumping through the hole she'd punched through the window with Scissorman's body.

* * *

Scissorman had already gotten up by the time she transformed and came after him. **SCHING…SCHING…** he pulled his scissors open wide and seemed to grin as she rushed him. He stabbed suddenly, trying to get her neck between the blades but she blocked with her staff and sparks flew at it tried to close uselessly against the metal haft.

The concentric rings spun furiously one inside the other as she looked him in the larger of his eyes and said flatly, "I'm not scared of you."

As she said that Scissorman seemed to suddenly lose his grip on his weapon for a second and she took advantage to swing her crackling staff at his torso. He gasped in surprise for a second as yellow power raced across his body, then disappeared into a burst of blue smoke.

The tip of the staff clanged against the ground as the strength seemed to drain from her body all of a sudden. She'd done it, she'd actually beaten a villain!

A few seconds passed and she could almost see the image of Kamen Rider Tarock, clad in her dark red Swords armor, looking over at her and silently asking what she was going to do next. With shaking hands Virginia clutched her staff and nodded if only to herself. She turned and went back the way she and Ben had come, the angry whirr of chainsaws getting louder with every step she took.

Then, in the light of her father's fallen flashlight, she saw Angelo duck as Biggy Man took a vicious swipe with his spark-spewing saws. The Welder charged her father, who grappled with him for a second before managing to kick the machete out of the masked villain's grimy hands, and before he could recover Angelo had jumped forward and with a yell that echoed throughout the empty park, snapped his neck. The Welder gave a strangled cry and collapsed before bursting into smoke.

But then in a split-second Cabadeth seemed to appear out of nowhere behind her father and slashed his bladed staff across Angelo's back. Angelo gurgled in pain and surprise before going down. Biggy Man stomped closer, saws seeming louder as they anticipated their kill. Cabadeth lifted his staff with impossible ease, seeming eager to beat the other monster to it…

The concentric rings atop her staff seemed to swing one within the other even more violently. Awkwardly she swung it above her head and then aimed it at Cabadeth, and a resounding voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once and shook the ground and the walls of the buildings around them: " **HEAVENLY SURROUND**."

She had no idea what had said that or what it meant but a strange black smoke full of small flecks of light, looking exactly like the depths of space, gushed from the end of the staff. It enveloped Cabadeth who whipped his blank face back and forth in surprise and confusion. A glowing white ring appeared around Cabadeth's arms, pinning them in place, then a wider ring running through his neck and legs froze them too. A third ring, even wider, formed around Cabadeth and spin around smashing the head of Cabadeth's bladed staff to bits.

" **MOBIUS INFLICTOR** ," the strange voice said again and Cabadeth's body started to extend from both ends until he was nothing but a tiny ribbon of color against the darkness of space, and finally stretched so thin he disappeared completely along with the star field behind him.

Angelo feebly pushed himself up to his knees, ready to take on the last of his attackers, but Biggy Man was looking right past him at Cabadeth's killer, her armor shining dully with even in the darkness. He growled savagely and lashed out with one of his giant saws at her, which she blocked on the edge of her staff, but behind her mask her jaw dropped in terror as the screaming chain started to actually cut into the metal!

But while her eyes were on that Biggy Man's other rotted arm flashed out and gashed her side with his saw. She gasped in pain and surprise and recoiled from the pain, ducking into a somersault and rolling with the impact like her father had told her again and again. The ground shook as Biggy Man's bulky form rushed at her, but behind her mask she bit her lip, not willing to let herself feel fear and give him anymore power.

Instead she tried to remember the powers she'd seen the Warlock use when he'd broadcasted his fight with Tarock to everyone stuck in the park. " **GRAV** ," that resounding voice said again and suddenly a huge transparent disc appeared and started pushing down on top of Biggy Man, who saw it coming and raised his saws above his head to block the disc as it pressed down on top of him.

As he fell to his knees, trying to resist with all his undead might, a transparent face appeared in front of the tattered bag covering his head. It was clenched with rage, and a feeling started invading her mind of hungering for power… _her_ power, which had once been his. _Rightfully_ his. It had been lost when he was defeated, but he would take it back, and become the greatest of his kind…

No. He wouldn't. It was _hers_ now, and things like him didn't deserve power. Not if they intended to do what he and his kind did.

" **BLAST** ," the voice came again just before a barrage of ragged energy bolts flew from the end of her staff and ripped into Biggy Man. His bloated body contorted in pain and the face of the one controlling him flickered away. Anger filled her as power swelled in her again; this thing, its plans, they were evil. They _had_ to be stopped. Another barrage came, bigger than before, and blasted right through Biggy Man's body until all that was left was a blue cloud disappearing on the wind. For a second it seemed to form into that angered face, but then it was gone, this time for good.

And good riddance, as far as she was concerned.

"Looks like it's official then," she heard, and looked up to see Ben at her side with a gentle smile on his face. "You're a for-real Kamen Rider, looks like. You even have the suit, huh?"

"I am…," she said, hardly daring to believe it. "I AM! Oh my god…" She dropped the staff and fell down on her butt, her armor fading away. "I really am!"

"Oh no you're _not_ , young lady!" bellowed Angelo as he limped over, seemingly oblivious to the cut down his back from his scuffle with Cabadeth. "I told Liss, and I'm telling you, _**you**_ _are not getting involved in this shit with these monsters_."

And she said something that stopped him in his tracks. "Why not?"

Angelo tried his damndest to make it look like he was grimacing in pain instead of her daring to talk back to him. "Because sooner or later this is going to be over and 'superhero' won't get you a job anywhere. Because you deserve better than a life spent fighting monsters nonstop. Because I'm your father and I say so."

Ben stepped up to them. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think you can stop her if she wants to."

Angelo gave him a withering look. "I'm guessing it didn't stop _you_."

Ben smiled faintly. "No. It didn't."

"Dad," Virginia interrupted. "I'm not going to just run out to tell Liss I'm her new sidekick…First we really need to take you to a hospital, for one thing."

"I'm fine."

"No sir, you're not," Ben replied.

Angelo glared. "Don't you tell me—"

"Dad, you're bleeding like crazy. _Let's go_ ," Virginia interrupted. "I promise I'm not going to run away to the Sphere and find Liss as soon as you're not looking, okay?...But I am gonna help, and that's just something you're going to have to accept."

As she and Ben led him away from the park, Angelo nodded slowly. "Maybe it's time."

"And from now on I just want to be called 'Gin'. It sounds cool," she added.

"You are NOT naming yourself after alcohol, young lady!" Angelo bellowed.

Ben just laughed.

* * *

They got out just before a parade of police cars surrounded the park and rushed out, guns drawn, as a group of figures emerged from the dark, but it just more blue-clad soldiers like the one they'd run into. Left to guard the area until they were sure there were no more monsters, it seemed. Two of them were help another limp along between them, the one who'd gotten into a fight with Cabadeth.

Virginia held her father's hand as they lurched back to the Dragon Academy to clean his wound before they took him to the hospital. It seemed like a turning point: he'd done that for her after the Warlock died and the crystal had hit her, now she was a real Kamen Rider, the thing he revered about anything else, and she was taking him to get fixed up.

She looked down at her free hand for a second and concentrated hard, and the outline of her staff, _her_ weapon, flickered into being for just a second, and she smiled.

She wouldn't be afraid anymore. Now, she was going to help strike back.

* * *

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

 **(Ben follows a red-haired girl through an autumn forest, an anxious look on his face)**

 **Ben: Why would you tell me this? Aren't you with** _ **them**_ **now?**

 **(As Vaga he fights a unicorn monster with a black coat)**

 **Mallory: Because you're not going to win.**

 **(As Liss watches a transparent gem is lowered into her new belt)**

 **Uthar: It is time we fought side-by-side, Liss…**

 **(Uthar scans a card with a belt of his own and red light flashes from it)**

 **Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.**

* * *

 **Author's note: This chapter's my love letter to some of my favorite obscure horror games. Ben Jordan is of course the hero of the Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator series. Him hearing about a super-fast red Kamen Rider is a reference to the game where he visits Japan coming out the year KR Kabuto was on the air.**

 **The Welder and Cabadeth are villains from the "Chzo Mythos" series of games by none other than Yahtzee Crowshaw. Google "5 Days a Stranger" to get started (the fourth Ben Jordan game had a reference to them itself). Scissorman was based on the villain of the first two Clock Tower games. Both of those were great series and very genuinely tense. Biggy Man is of course the iconic villain of the Splatterhouse series, the first video game I remember becoming infamous for its fairly intense gory violence. Yep, even before Mortal Kombat (but not by a lot).**

 **Thanks for sticking with the story this long.**


	7. Reading 32: In With the New

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Thirty-Two: In With the New**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos, to prove herself, at least to her own self.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

But ultimately Lost was captured, and with her the leader of the Mythos recombined into her true form, a shapeless horror called the Dark Mother by her followers.

Liss remains determined to find a way to rescue Lost, but as she's away on the Sphere forging new alliance and having her damage belt replaced, things have been happening without her. Her teacher's daughter has manifested powers of her own, and another friend is having doubts…

* * *

Another day's hike, and Ben Corland hardly noticed the weight of his backpack as he walked through the dry grass of the hills. It was getting very cold, but as with most winters Ben couldn't even remember the last time snow had fallen anywhere near their town. It was like snow avoided it as much as people did. At least, as much as people used to.

He'd come a long way to be alone with his thoughts. In the battle at Marvel Land he'd fought the Mythos once again, and once again he'd been knocked out like a wussy while Liss Decker, the girl he'd been empowered to replace, took on the biggest bad guy with no powers at all came out the end of it all more powerful than ever.

And then she'd disappeared, probably back to the Sphere to lead the attack on some even bigger bad guy without a word to him or any time spent trying to find out where he'd gone. Why had he thought becoming a Kamen Rider would be a good idea? He wasn't a warrior. Hell, he wasn't even the hardcore troublemaker Liss had been before she found her belt. He'd only demanded powers of his own to try so he could find Liss and then show her how awesome **he** was now.

Well, he wasn't. He'd gone down like a bitch when he was supposed to have been saving the day. But he stopped himself and looked back at the tiny skyline of town. He'd come all the way out here to have time alone with his thoughts, but was this the only thing he was going to think about?

Then something caught Ben's eye, something green and glistening crawling his way without disturbing the tall grass he was standing. A chill started to run up his spine as he was afraid he'd been found by a Mythos monster, but a second later he recognized the skinny shape: it was just a Snake Wild Card. Had Liss sent it?

Ben picked up the snake and it split into a storm of small triangular crystals that reformed into a card. It projected an image into the air, where Liss was standing looking down, dark rings of exhaustion around her eyes.

Liss spoke. "Ben, I need to go back to the Sphere for a while. I need you to keep an eye on things here, make sure the Mythos didn't leave us any surprises after all that crap at Marvel Land. I'm counting on you..."

The picture flickered away and Ben stood there for a second not knowing what to think. Would she really have sent a Wild Card to tell him to watch things if she was just feeling sorry for him? But if she meant it, and had to go back to the Sphere it was probably right after the fight at Marvel Land, since that was when he'd left. But that had been days ago. Why had it taken the Wild Card so long to find him? They were faster than that.

Suddenly another picture appeared out of the card, of a girl Ben's age with blazing red hair and wearing a rough leather jacket and jeans. It kept shaking back and forth like the Wild Card had been struggling during the recording.

"Hi, Ben," said the girl, and after a second he recognized her as Mallory…Quinn? Just Mal, really. A girl he and Liss had seen at a couple of parties, but that was all he could remember about her. "I need you to meet me out by that old house off the highway, where Mike Brewer threw that one really stupid party, remember? I need to tell you guys something important, and Liss won't listen to me, but maybe she'll listen to both of us. I'll wait for you there." Then the picture faded.

A cold breeze picked up as Ben stood there digesting what he'd been told by those two different girls, then he walked back to where he left his bike. Something big was about to happen.

* * *

Ben was sure he could see a face looking through an upstairs as he came down the old road, but as he pulled up out front it was gone. He recognized the old house from that party Mal had mentioned, mainly from when the floor broke and one kid fell into the basement and broke a couple fingers. The door stood open and as Ben stopped his bike and looked up again, he was sure he saw Mal standing in the doorway for just a second before disappearing again.

Ben took off his helmet and hung it on the handlebars. This had to be a trap. Mal had to be tied in with the Mythos. Didn't she? But if she was, then it was his chance to catch her all on his own. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small packet of Wild Cards, which he charged and let loose before walking into the house, the light of the Moths as they hovered over him lighting the way.

"Mal? Hello? Is anybody in here?" he called into the dark rooms, his only answer being his echo a second later. He came into the large living room he remembered most from that party, where the hole from that one kid's fall was still open in the corner. Around the edges were faded beer cans and grey cigarette butts still. In one corner was even a sleeping squatter with a matted beard and tattered clothes. Then Ben spotted a gaping wound in his chest and realized he wasn't asleep…

"Hi, Ben," said a voice behind him and he spun around. There was Mal, a somber expression on her face. She glanced at his raised bracelet and the card in his other hand, ready to change and fight at a moment's notice. "You don't need that around me, I promise."

"Oh yeah? How do you know I don't need it unless you know what it is? And how do you know what it is unless you're one of **them**?"

Her expression didn't move. "I have nothing to lose telling you the truth, then. Yes, I'm one of 'them' now. And I asked you to listen to me so you can hear why you need to be too."

"Change—"

" **Ben** ," Mal cut him off. "If I was just going to kill you, I'd be doing it already. And you don't really think I'd meet you without being able to defend myself, do you?" He didn't answer, but he did lower his arms. "Good. Now follow me."

She went all the way into the back of the house and down a narrow and rickety set of stairs into the basement. Ben expected a monster to jump out of the shadows at any second, but there were none, not even when they got to the bottom and Mal took him into a wide basement room that looked like the walls had been dug out to make extra room, and sitting in the middle of a field of smashed boxes and old furniture was the reason why.

There was a giant black stone sitting in the middle of the floor, just like the one Ben had seen in the Warlock's private room thanks to him broadcasting his debate with Liss all over the amusement park. Small curling tubes extended from the top to glass bubbles resting in the wall. Ben's blood seemed to freeze in his veins when he saw human shapes inside, curled into the fetal position as black ooze seeped into the bubbles.

"What the hell is this?" Ben asked slowly.

"It's a conversion center for the Order of Shining Darkness," Mal answered.

"You're turning them into _monsters_!"

"We're turning them into _something greater than they'd ever be on their own_ ," Mal retorted, glaring at him sharply. "These are mainly convicts and people who were eking out a living in the wilderness of the Sphere when we found them. We are giving them _power_ , Ben. We're enabling them to survive in the new world the Dark Mother's going to make."

He clenched his teeth in disgust. "Who says we need a better world?"

Mal went somber again as she replied, "You don't really need me to make you a list of what's wrong with this one, do you?"

Ben raised his bracelet again. "And a world where everyone's a monster under the biggest monster's control is supposed to be Heaven or something? She attacked people on the Sphere over and over again to get rid of the competition!"

She sighed in resignation, and had probably been expecting this kind of answer. "No it's not perfect the way we're used to looking at things, Ben. But the world is changing into something incredibly different and this is the only way anyone's going to survive to see it. Not everyone can just have somebody give them a magic thing that turns them into a superhero. Since we've shown our power, we're gonna make it so the people who join us never get sick, never get old, nobody's gonna be born with more advantages than anybody else…she'll see everything, know what's happening everywhere, to all of her people. Everything will finally be fair and equal."

He scowled back at her. "That's the better choice to you, having somebody watching you all the time who can control you whenever they want? When there's nothing to work toward or aspire to do?! When the biggest monster kills anything that isn't like it is?! That thing that gave the Arcana their powers, he gave people powers to help other people, but he didn't look in on them and spank them for not doing exactly what he wanted!"

Mal sighed at his resistance. "I didn't say I thought it was perfect, but look where that's gotten us…Look, Ben, do you have any idea how much power the Dark Mother really has?" Mal went on. "The reason everyone who comes from the Sphere ends up on this town is because when she was fought before, she erupted with so much force pieces of her broke through the wall between that world and this one. Like this one right here. It was part of her once and she's just waiting for it to be part of her again. Do you think even Liss is going to be any problem for her, if she has enough power to break down walls between worlds like that?"

Before he could reply to that suddenly Mallory seemed to explode outward, leaving a lithe black figure with the head of a horse with a thick spiraling horn emerging from her forehead, the same silvery white as her mane and tail. Etched into the armor plating on her chest was a golden image in the shape of an eye.

"Shadow of the Land, Unicorn," she said, then looked at him gravely. "Don't do this. I'm trying to help you, Ben. I really am."

"I don't want your kind of help, I don't want your kind of future. Neither will Liss. **Change, Vaga!** " There was a flash of green and Ben was gone, clad in the armor of Kamen Rider Vaga once again. He had just clutched the hilt of his weapon when a tornado of light ripped from the end of Unicorn's horn and blew him into the wall.

* * *

Uthar proudly waved his hand at a glass wall, on the other side of which a group of technicians were welding plates onto four sets of armor with crystalline torches. "You're familiar with our empowered warriors, the Swords Corps, the Pentacles Corps?" he asked gently.

"You mean those guys in the colored armor who were at the amusement park? Yeah," Liss answered him. "You based them off of me?"

Suddenly Uthar looked flustered, and his hulking friend Loi grinned. "Not _me_ , personally, the arms designers. But the records of your fights with the Mythos have proven very… _inspiring_ to the empire's defenders. So the people in charge of new defenses decided to base the equipment they had in mind for our elite soldiers on your different powers, yes."

"Uh, thanks," Liss answered, still unused to actually facing peoples' gratitude for what she did.

"Anyway!" Uthar continued. "You've seen the ordinary soldiers of each of the four Corps. These suits are being built for the 'nobility,' the high-powered leadership of each Corps. There will be the Page, Knight, Queen and King."

"Oh, I see. Like that guy from Mados suggested for us, and Thena."

"More or less," Uthar replied, seeming eager to change the subject. "There will also be the Aces, who are more powerful still, but a usable power supply for them has yet to be completed. I have something else for you to see, Tarock."

"Liss."

"Of course!" Uthar said and led her down another hallway and through three heavy metal doors in a row with armed guards flanking each of them. It was just like Baron Jakkari's vault, where he'd been keeping two of those giant black stones the Mythos wanted so much. Instead, this one opened into a room where a blast of heat seemed to roll out and slam into Liss and Uthar as soon as the doors were opened. Inside it, behind the transparent shield wall a pair of white-hot rectangles of metal rested on a pair of pedestals. Even as Liss watched, the heat making them glow was starting to fade.

"My new belt…but there's two?" Liss asked.

"The other one's for me," Uthar answered.

* * *

Caught in a daze, Vaga tried to pry himself out of the crater in the wall as Unicorn's horn started to glow for another shot. The air whined as she fire, but a pair of Turtle Wild Cards suddenly jumped in the way and intercepted the blast, exploding into crystal dust.

" **Vaga Fencer!** " He came charging through the shining cloud, swinging his blade. Unicorn didn't seem to bother to move at all as it bit into her again and again but nothing happened. Without warning she jumped and smashed a hoof into his face in a flying kick, then dashed forward and stabbed the tip of her horn against Vaga's chest and released a blast of energy that sent him flying through the ceiling, then another one, then the roof of the house. He spun over and over until he crashed into the ground and lost all feeling for a few seconds.

Already he could _feel_ more than anything else that Unicorn was right behind him just from the sensation of a blazing hot power jumping into the air behind him. Vaga rolled onto his back and clutched his weapon with the little of his strength he'd managed to recover. " **Vaga Bowgun!** " It morphed as Unicorn landed, struggling with a chain of Snake Wild Cards wrapped around her arms, fangs sunk into each others' tails. Her horn glowed as her power erupted out from her body in a wave all around her, shattering them into dust and pushing Vaga backward along the ground a good fifteen feet.

" **Heartseeker!** " He fired a surging arrow at her without waiting a second. He had more power than that, but if he tried to wait to get the strength to use it he was dead. But Unicorn casually reached out as the arrow was about to hit her and swatted it away.

"I'm sorry, Ben," Unicorn said. "But I gave you the chance."

He replied without words, by getting out his other Form Card. " **Change Trosik!** " His green armor melted away, replaced by blue with the golden disc on his chest and that strange circuitry that tied into everything in the world around it. "And I'm gonna show you why we don't want your help," Vaga said with a confidence he didn't really feel. He hated using this form and its weird powers, but now it seemed like his only chance.

It didn't help that as the world faded away and those circuits carrying energy all over the world came into view, he froze when he saw that they didn't travel up and through Unicorn's body like they did even with the Mythos he fought before. They wrapped _around_ her body, as if existence itself recognized as something _wrong_ , something that _shouldn't exist._

Unicorn charged another beam but in his new form, everything else seemed to stop for Vaga and he launched himself into the air, curled himself into a ball for a second and then came down behind Unicorn in a flawless arc. He reached out and grabbed two lines of circuitry surrounding her and pulled them tighter, making her screech in pain but she lunged and broke free from the strands of power.

In one hand she had a slim sword that trailed a ghostly light as she slashed at Vaga again and again with blinding speed. His radically heightened senses allowed him to see them coming and dodge, but each time she came a fraction of an inch closer to hitting him until finally the blade bit into his shoulder.

Vaga whirled away, clutching his shoulder in pain. As he did he saw those weird pulses of energy running up his body and collecting at his injury for a second, then the pain was gone. But he swore he saw spikes and then a string of circles starting to grow out of his shoulder for a second.

He stood in awe of what just happened. If he could do that, what kind of powers did his Trosik form really have? Did it have _anything_ that could save his ass from his old "friend" who was trying to murder him now after he'd turned her down? He clenched a fist in anger and let it go in surprise when suddenly his hand changed into a long tendril with a stinger on the end, a cloven hoof, and then seemed to change into a mass of flowing water.

In desperation, in anger not to go down in yet another fight, Vaga focused on that change, on the power causing it, and all at once he wasn't there with a super-Mythos running down to chop his head off. He was gazing into a field of stars, one for one horrible, jarring second he could even see some of the lines of circuitry connecting those to the rest of the universe...

Then he heard a roar like an angry bull's, and saw Unicorn was almost on top of him.

Then Vaga yelled and shoved Unicorn thirty feet into the air before she could chop his head off, using a burst of strength he wouldn't have thought possible in his other form, let alone this one. He wasn't even aware of the curved horns sprouting from his shoulders.

Unicorn recovered and while she was off the ground a blinding storm of light flowed out from her horn. Vaga held up his arm to shield himself and the horns retracted into his body without him noticing at all, but as they did his arm started to ripple and melt into liquid.

She came rushing through the haze of light with the tip of her sword aimed right at his neck and seconds away from skewering it. Suddenly Vaga melted away into a stream of water that whirled around Unicorn and slammed into the small of her back, staggering her. It solidified into Vaga and he grabbed her in a headlock, his left arm morphing back into a scorpion's tail with the tip aimed at her throat and glowing a poisonous green light.

"Let me make _you_ an offer, Mal: help us find a way to get Lost out of your boss, and maybe we can find a way to save you too," Vaga said.

"She already sees everything I see," Unicorn said apologetically, then without warning she spun around and kicked at him with all her might, but he saw it coming and as he twisted out of the worst of the kick he stabbed the tip of the stinger into her shoulder and ecstasy and surprise both racing through him as it punctured her armor and she gave a scream of pain.

Unicorn clutched her free hand to her wound, green venom leaking through her fingers. "Looks like she didn't make you as tough as you thought," Vaga taunted.

But her equine face seemed to grow cold. "You don't know anything about what's coming!" she screamed, then stamped her hoof on the ground. " **Shadow of the Land!** "

Vaga staggered around as suddenly an earthquake ripped through the area. The old house creaked and collapsed into a giant hole underneath it. Unicorn jumped and came down on top of Vaga, as dust whipped up around them, sword held high. She unleashed a furious flurry of blows with blinding speed that sent sparks flying from his arms and torso, and her final thrust straight to his chest knocked him across the ground. As she ran up to finish the job he melted into a stream of water again and spiraled out of her way then reformed in midair and turned around ready to right.

Already Vaga could see she was gone, though. There was no alien, _wrong_ shape in the field around him anymore. And he was sure that by the time he recovered enough from all the pains Unicorn's last barrage had left him with and tried to dig out the basement with help from his Wild Cards, Unicorn, the stone and the people who'd been down there would be long gone.

* * *

A technician reverently placed the finished buckle in Liss's gloved hands. It was a small silver rectangular, a lot smaller and less bulky than her old Fate Driver. Lining the edge was a bronze-colored rectangle, etched with an ongoing series of symbols: a sword, a pentacle, a cup, and a wand, over and over around the edge of the buckle. In the center was a white faceted gemstone, and around that were a series of Roman numerals, starting with 0, going to I, II, III and stopping at XXI.

"Finally," Liss muttered. "I was starting to feel naked without one of these. You guys are sure this Fate Driver can do everything my old could do, though, right?"

"Arc Driver," Loi corrected her, the hulking soldier smiling at her, seeming amused by the confused look she gave him. "Arc as in Arcana. As for what it can do—"

"I'd like to know that myself," Uthar replied, cradling a Driver of his own in one hand, but the gemstone on his was a deep red. "Would you care to accompany me outside…Liss?" he asked.

"Sure," she nodded, wondering what he had in mind.

A few minutes later they were out in the courtyard of the royal palace, and Uthar placed his Arc Driver at his waist, and as it always had with Liss a belt whipped out of one side and fastened itself into the other. Slowly, hesitantly he reached into the card sleeve hanging off it and pulled one out with a picture of a man in a regal red robe and wearing a crown sitting on a throne. He held the card up in front of the gemstone on his belt, and a ray of light flashed out over the card, making it flicker away.

" **Emperor! Major!** " the belt cried. A black undersuit formed over his body and then a glowing outline of a card floated down over him, forming armor and a white cape trimmed with red. A red mask with bright blue lenses for eyes, a silver mouthplate and a V-shaped golden crest on brow like Tarock's own were first, then a heavy red chestplate with "IV" on it in gold. Red gauntlets reaching up to the forearms were next, and red greaves with white cuffs as the card reached the ground. Red armor plate a good inch and a half thick had formed all over the arms and legs of his undersuit as well, which made Liss think of how her own Empress form didn't go _that_ far with its coverage. He looked like a tank.

"So…what do we call you now?" Liss asked.

"Yes, indeed," Loi echoed. "You've had long enough to make up your mind, haven't you?"

" _Yes_ , I have," Uthar replied, cutting him off. "And I think 'Imperial' will do. What are these called on your world? Kamen Riders?"

Liss nodded, and even through all of his armor he seemed to relax slightly at having gotten it right. She held up her own Empress Card and held still, not sure what to expect from her new belt as she felt her transformation coming again. " **Empress! Major!** "

The power that filled her as the armor appeared and transformed her into Tarock again was like before, but strong, stable now, instead of buzzing and twitching as it poured out of something never meant to hold so much of it. As the Arm of the Empire appeared in her hand it was like another part of her had grown…it was incredible. They'd even managed to save the Royal Core from off of her old belt, and it was now affixed to the armor of the back of her right wrist.

" **Arms of Fate! Darkleaver!** " announced Imperial's Driver and in a flash a battleaxe with a gleaming blade on each side was in his hands, engraved with designs wolves chasing demons along the edges. "Amazing…," Imperial breathed at the sight of it. Even from where she stood, Tarock could feel it subtly humming with power.

Then Imperial looked up and met her eyes. "Perhaps milady would care to make a test run with her new equipment?"

"Is that a threat?" Tarock asked, but her tone was slightly teasing.

"A friendly one," Imperial assured her.

"Then you need to catch me first," Tarock answered and the words had barely reached Imperial's ears before she was jumping over the wall with ease, cape flapping behind her. Imperial took a running start and then heaved himself into the air after her.

Loi chuckled to himself as they disappeared from sight.

* * *

A family half a mile away jumped in surprise as they heard the thud of something landing on their roof, followed a second later by a heavier thud before whatever it was pushed off into the air again.

Imperial did his best to keep Tarock in sight, stumbling as he made his next landing. The power of this new form was exhilarating, but Tarock was clearly a lot more at home with it than he was, as she landed on top of another building in the distance and in less than a second had turned and launched herself off in another calculated jump.

He'd doubted her motives for so long, and thought the Arcana would always be there to guide his people. Would he have been as used to these powers as Tarock was to hers, if he'd accepted the Emperor's gift of them sooner? Would he have had the courage, or the sense, to track the Mythos outside the walls to whatever hole they'd been hiding in and ended this already?

And would he have ever met Tarock at all, and been so entranced by her resolve?

Another jump off a rooftop and they were soaring over the fields outside Avalon. For what seemed like hours he watched as Tarock glided majestically through the air a hundred yards in front of him then her feet touched the ground but she immediately started running with the last of her momentum, cape billowing behind her like angelic wings, or so Imperial thought…

He was thinking too hard about wings, and suddenly there was a crash as the ground came up to meet him and his legs buckled, digging up the grass with his knees as his momentum sent him skidding him across the ground. Imperial shoved his axe out in front of him and finally stopped a few feet away from Tarock, who had her scepter trained on him, the gem glowing lightly with purple power.

"Looks like I win already," she said to him.

"Looks that way," Imperial conceded, then suddenly swung the flat of his blade at her arm but just as suddenly she raised her wrist to block it, catching the blade on the Royal Core. Imperial pulled the axe away and swung it in an overhead arc, striking the ground with a thunderous impact that formed cracks in the ground forty feet away and shook the very air around them.

Tarock was blown off her feet by the awesome strength of Imperial's swing, but twisted herself in midair and rode the shockwave to a gentle crouch. Such poise…She stood up with the red Card of Swords between the fingers of one hand, and pressed it against the Royal Core on her other wrist.

" **TRUMP!** " There was a flash of red then in her right hand she still held the Arm of the Empire but in her other was a red-hilted sword with wing-like crossbars and the head of a bird on pommel, the weapon topped with a thin silver blade. It was nothing like the gigantic claymore she'd wielded before, but as she went into a fighting stance brandishing the sword at him a harsh burst of wind blew across the field and buffeted a surprised Imperial.

But this time he saw the danger coming as Tarock threw a jump kick but he crossed his arms and blocked her boot. He threw his arms wide, batting her away, then swung the Darkleaver and chopped off the edge of her mask's crest as she ducked in time.

"You call that friendly?" she asked, but surprised him by not sounding angry at all.

"I'm led to believe you can take it," Imperial said. "Besides, I was hitting with the flat."

"Oh yeah? Like this?" She slashed with Skycalibur and caught him on the side of the side with the flat of the blade, a rushing wind blowing behind the blade. She threw a punch but he recovered quickly and grabbed her wrist in midair, then flipped her over his hand. Tarock grunted as she hit the ground with a crash, but she hooked her scepter around his ankle and pulled, knocking him to the ground too.

"Heh," Imperial chuckled. "Care to see what kind of power these really have?"

"What? On each other?"

"I'm sure I can get clear in time," Imperial assured her. "What about _you_?"

"I didn't get this far by just running into people's fists," Tarock answered him. "You just better not go easy on me because I have breasts."

" **TRUMP!** " Tarock pressed the Card of Cups against her Royal Core and another new weapon replaced her sword. It was like the Sea Hand her Cups Form normally had, but had a wide round cannon-like barrel and thick yellow armor plating that went all the way up her arm and covered her shoulder. Her boots even had huge, heavy soles on them now, and she had a feeling she knew why. " **Cataclysm! Final Flood!** " The cannon over her arm started shaking as it built up power but her huge boots held her to the spot.

" **Cataclysm! Dark Sunder!** " Imperial's buckle announced and his axe started to glow an angry red.

Tarock's cannon erupted with a giant whirlpool that surged out at Imperial, but he swung his axe hard enough to bury the blade in the ground and creating a crimson wave of light that pushed back against Tarock's blast. The ground started to tremor as the awesome forces they were unleashing fought back and forth for a few more seconds until there was a deafening explosion.

A minute later it cleared, revealing Liss and Uthar out of their armor, panting for breath and gazing at each other across the crater their powers left behind. Uthar acted first, smiling at her through the smoke. "That was incredible," he breathed. "I pity the Mythos who has to face the two of us now."

"Eeeh," Liss replied uncertainly, and his smile faded. "I'm still not really used to teaming up."

Uthar walked around and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "You can _get_ used to it," he said softly. Liss opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a weird feeling from her cards in her pocked and pulled them out. The Form Cards of her four older forms were shaking slightly in the palm of her hand, seeming almost…eager to be somewhere else.

"What's the matter?" Uthar asked.

"It feels like they're trying to say they need to be somewhere," Liss answered. "Or with someone else."

* * *

There was a ripple in the air and a loud bang before Shift Runner cruised onto the street, back from the Sphere.

The cards had gone still long before Lisa had gotten back, but something told her whatever she was supposed to be looking for was around there. She steered around a corner to stop by the park where that weird tree she'd planted had something to do with her cards acting up, but then saw something that stopped her right in her tracks.

It was Decker Engines, the little garage her older sister Paige ran. Even though it was only mid-afternoon, it was already closed up and all the lights off. Even that crappy old TV Paige kept in the waiting room was off. And in the window was a sign written with a sharpie on a sheet of cardboard: WE'RE MOVING TO RITTERSBURG! THANKS FOR THREE GREAT YEARS!

…Rittersburg? RITTERSBURG?! That was over a hundred miles away! And she'd decided to go and made the decision to shut down her business while Liss was gone?! Liss gunned the motor and sped away toward Paige's place so fast she left a flaming skid mark on the street behind her.

As she stopped at the curb of Paige's building Liss noticed a pickup truck with a rental trailer hooked to the bumper hitch sitting at the curb, and the door to Paige's apartment sitting open. At the sound of her bike's engine a red-haired woman leaned out the door to see what was going on, then slammed it shut. Fuming, Liss got off Shift Runner and stomped up to the door, banging on it with her knuckles.

"I know you're in there, Kelly! Don't you dare to try lock me out!" Liss yelled.

"Go away! You're not talking her out of this!" a voice yelled back from inside.

"Open the door, Kelly!" Paige shouted. "She's my sister, she deserves to hear this face-to-face."

There was a loud sigh of resignation from inside, then Liss heard the lock unclicking and the deadbolt sliding open. Then _slowly_ it creaked open and the red-haired lady, Paige's partner Kelly, stood behind it, frowning as Liss slid past her. Piles of boxes were lined up in the hallway, sealed tight with packing tape. The TV was chattering lightly away in the living room where Paige was filling up a box with dishes. On the screen a suit-clad host was holding up a book with a glossy cover showing a woman and a sword-wielding figure in red armor. And next to him was Sue Gand the tabloid reporter, who Liss hadn't seen in ages.

Paige looked up at her and gave a teasing smile. "Looks like you're about to be famous, huh?"

Liss didn't respond to the news story or Paige's joke at all. "So you're really just leaving," she said dully, feeling totally powerless even with her cards working again.

"I'm not 'just leaving,' Liss," Paige replied measuredly, like she'd been expecting this conversation. "I'm leaving because the person I love doesn't feel safe here, and because the person I was looking out for doesn't need someone to look out for her anymore."

"People always need some—" Liss started.

"Yeah, Liss, everybody needs somebody sometimes…isn't there a song about that?" Paige replied. "But you've got plenty of people who help you out, Liss. Didn't you go see some of them when I told you I was doing this before?"

"You said you were _thinking_ about it," Liss argued.

Paige nodded patiently. "And I decided that for a couple different reasons I was going to do it. The biggest one was that you can take care of yourself, Liss."

Liss slumped against the wall in dejection, and Paige stood up and put her hands on her little sister's shoulders. "Look, why don't you come back in about an hour and a half? We'll be mostly packed up by then, and then we can all go out to dinner. _Right_ , Kelly?"

"…yeah, we could do that. Least we could do," Kelly admitted, the rage at seeing Liss fading from her face.

Liss got up and turned away so her sister couldn't see her face. "Then I guess I'll see you then." She slipped out the door, jumped over the balcony and landed in Shift Runner's seat, then roared away as fast as she could go.

* * *

As soon as she got to Angelo's Dragon Academy, Liss went upstairs, grabbed the beat-up guitar she'd bought a little while ago and sat down on the edge of the roof and strummed the instrument.

Paige was moving away. It was really happening. Somehow Liss had felt ready for anything the Dark Mother could come up with, but this had left her totally numb. Even while she was away on the Sphere, Liss had always imagined her brave older sister there at home, running her garage like everything was normal. Her older sister who hadn't been afraid to walk out on the rest of their family because she fell in love with a woman and was proud of if it. But now, Paige was leaving town, leaving _Liss_ , because of her relationship with that same woman.

In a way Liss knew she should be proud of her sister for her devotion to her relationship. At the same time it seemed so _unfair_ , though, taking away the most stable thing Liss had in her crazy life. She slowly picked at the strings, trying to find something familiar and reassuring to play to collect herself.

Slowly it came to her. "Tomorrow we can drive around this town, and let the cops chase us around," she murmured as her fingers took over and she started to work her way through the chorus of one of the first songs she'd learned. "The past is gone but something might be found to take its place…Hey jeal—"

Suddenly something jumped over the edge of the roof and landed in front of Liss. She dropped her guitar and reached inside her duster for her Arc Driver, then stopped when she recognized Vaga. He let his armor fade and stood before her as regular Ben. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!"

"It's okay," Liss sighed, then picked up her guitar and started working through the same song again.

Ben was more than a little surprised not to see her react to him implying she'd been scared, or even just that he'd surprised her by jumping onto the roof without warning. "Is…everything okay, Liss?" he asked.

"Not really," she answered. "But what about you? Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Yeah. Remember Mal Quinn?" he asked her. She nodded, and he went on, "Well, she's a Mythos now. A unicorn. Said she was some special kind, the Shadow of the Land. She wanted me to help talk you into joining their side."

"And you said no, I hope," Liss replied without looking up.

"I said no," he responded. "I found out about some new powers I have too."

"Oh yeah?" she asked distantly. "You'll have to show me sometime."

Ben grunted in exasperation. "Liss, what the hell's wrong? You haven't reacted to anything I just frigging said! A new super-Mythos or something wanted me to help convince you to go over to their side! Somebody who used to be a friend of yours! I've got new powers I didn't even know I had, and those can be a big help!"

"I'm sorry, all right?" Liss retorted. "I've just got some really big things to deal with right now?"

Ben snorted in amusement. "You're the frigging hero of legend, Liss. You always have big things to deal with," Ben said, but stopped himself when he saw how serious she was, and that was all she was going to tell him. Slowly an idea came to him for how he could get a straight answer out of Liss. If it worked. If not, he was going to regret it very quickly.

Suddenly he sprang at Liss, who gaped at him and he couldn't resist smirking as he realized he'd actually taken her by surprise. He dodged to the side to make sure he didn't break her guitar, then grabbed Liss in a headlock. "What's bugging you, Liss? Tell me!"

"So you're just a Mythos!" Liss snarled.

"What?" Ben demanded, then laughed. "Oh my god, you really think so! Maybe I'm just the only guy who isn't afraid to give you shit when you really need it!"

Liss hissed in anger and struggled in Ben's grip but didn't have her usual fight in her. "What the hell do you _want_?" she demanded.

"How about just a straight answer? Why are you so out of it tonight?"

Liss sighed and gave up struggling. "All right, all right! My sister decided she's leaving town to move to Ritterburg because her partner doesn't think it's safe around here anymore. I…I don't know, can't really get my head around the fact that she's really leaving."

Ben let her go and walked back to a respectful distance. "Jesus, really? Did she say she it was your fault or something like that?" he asked.

"No," Liss answered him, scraping the toe of her sneaker against the roof. "She said the main reason she was leaving was because I don't need her anymore. Because I could handle things by myself from now on."

"Liss, you're frigging Kamen Rider Tarock! You went after the Warlock when you didn't have any power at all!" Ben exclaimed. "I would've pissed myself and run away screaming if I hadn't had any powers!"

"He has a point, Liss," said another voice, and both of them jumped back in surprise to see the pale girl in a faded dress who'd appeared out of nowhere on the corner of the roof. "We all have to learn to let go, eventually. I've learned that lesson the hard way."

Liss stood up and walked over to the girl, who stood casually on top of the low wall that formed the edge of the roof. "Rexi…when did you get back?" Liss asked while Ben looked on cautiously. This girl was someone Liss clearly trusted and who'd helped them out before, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy around someone Liss said was supposed to be dead.

"Just now…," she replied, smiling faintly over Liss's shoulder at Ben, who shivered, grumped and looked away. "Hello, Liss. Your hair's gotten even longer since the last time I saw you."

Liss grabbed her hair for a second to see if that was true out of reflex, getting a smile from Rexia. "Look," Liss said, "I got invited to a last dinner out with Paige in a little while. She probably wouldn't be too upset if I invited a couple friends to make it a real celebration. What do you guys say?"

Ben glanced over at Rexia and folded his arms. "Sure. I'm in."

Rexia nodded and suddenly launched herself into an effortless flip over their hands and landed next to Ben, who jumped back. "Yes, I'll come along," she answered. "I'd be delighted to meet your sister."

Liss sighed in relief and draped her arms over both their shoulders. "Thanks, guys," she said. "Maybe I can handle this after all."

* * *

Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…

Liss: Here we are, the end of an era.

(Liss and her friends sit at a restaurant booth, but Rexia looks over her shoulder at a shadowy figure)

Kelly: I want the best for my partner.

(The shadowy figure raises a large staff in front of Liss, Ben and Rexia)

Liss: I want the best for her too.

(Liss rides Shift Runner down the street and disappears back to the Sphere)

Narrator: Your fate is in your ends.

* * *

 **Well, another one down, another Rider and some new abilities for Liss and Ben (sick of all these yet?). Looks like Liss won't have hers for long, though.**

 **A unicorn as one of the big elite villains is a weird choice, I know, but when I had to eliminate a couple other choices (like a rawhead) as the Land monster with my efforts to try to make the second half of the story less dark and oppressive, it seemed like a decent choice based on how surprising it would be to see her kick major butt.**

 **The song Liss is playing when Ben comes up and interrupts her is "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Reading 33: Justify and Forgive

**Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt – Reading Thirty-Three: Justify and Forgive**

 **So far on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…**

The day she found herself caught in the middle of a fight between a giant spider and a red-armored knight, Liss Decker was thrust into a war between the monstrous beings called the Mythos and the people of a strange world called the Sphere. Seeking an escape from an oppressive everyday life and a chance to prove her worth to herself, Liss became the empowered warrior called Tarock and joined the fight against the Mythos, to prove herself, at least to her own self.

Numerous battles followed and the Mythos seemed to grow stronger each time, eventually capturing the girl known as Lost who was the source of their numbers but only wanted a chance to escape that nightmare.

But ultimately Lost was captured, and with her the leader of the Mythos recombined into her true form, a shapeless horror called the Dark Mother by her followers.

Liss remains determined to find a way to rescue Lost, but as she's away on the Sphere forging new alliance and having her damage belt replaced, things have been happening without her. Her teacher's daughter has manifested powers of her own, and Liss has learned her beloved older sister has decided to move to another city, leaving Liss to stand on her own…

* * *

It was with a little jealousy that Ben Corland glanced over and watched Rexia clinging to Liss's back as their motorcycles sped down the road. He definitely felt closer to Liss after she admitted she felt betrayed by her sister deciding to move away, but…

Liss had explained it was because Rexia didn't have a bike like two of them did, and Rexia herself explained that she kind of did but it was tied to her other powers, and once she used them she had to keep using them until she hit her breaking point and then she'd be gone for days or even weeks depending on how hard she pushed herself. And Ben had to admit they'd probably need all the help they could get with these "Shadows" showing up.

Another minute later they pulled up across the street from Mario's, a pizza and pasta restaurant Liss and Ben had gone to a few times when they were still going out. Paige waved to them from the front door, and next to her was Kelly, who wrung the strap of her purse nervously when she saw Liss hadn't come alone. A few minutes later they were seated at a wooden table basking in the glow of neon beer ads and signs pointing out the small pinball arcade and pool table near the back.

"So, Liss, why don't you introduce us to your friends?" Kelly said as she fidgeted in her seat and they waited for their orders to be taken, clearly not wanting to seem like a bad hostess but not comfortable around them all.

"Well, you've met Ben," Liss said, and Ben waved gently from across the table, not wanting to get her in any trouble by reminding her of the delinquent phase they'd been in when Kelly and Paige had met him briefly before. "And Rexi's…well…"

"I'm from the Sphere, pleasure to meet you," Rexia said with a smile. "I met Liss when I helped her recover from some of her injuries. I'll admit I was suspicious of her for a while, but I had a terrible accident and thanks to someone helping me get another chance, I'm trying harder to see the need for what she does."

Liss looked over at her with a look of mild puzzlement. _That_ had been an extremely sanitized account of what happened between the two of them. For one thing, that "friend" she mentioned was the Grim Reaper. Rexia smiled lightly at her for just a second but then turned back to Kelly. "But I don't really like to talk about myself, and this is your night after all. How did the two of you meet?"

"Well, we—" Paige started to reply, but Kelly gently placed her hand on top of her partner's to stop her.

"No, Paige. Let me. Maybe I've been too hard," Kelly answered for her. Paige nodded and leaned back in her chair to listen too.

* * *

Kelly started off, "I was trying to study for a history major at state university when I met Paige. I wanted to get away from this town, and I thought being allowed to travel to historical locations all over the world give me the chance. It was hard, though…I've never been good with dates or picking up languages. Thought I could just power through all that with wanting to get out of town and see the world hard enough, but I was always stuck around the middle of my class.

"My odds of getting recommendations and job offers were pretty weak," Kelly sighed and sipped her ice water. "I went to this one faculty party to see if I could network a little and get around it. Ended up being really late by the time I left thanks to that. A lot later than I should've. So when I was walking home and this guy in a hood came up to me.

" He said something to me like, 'Hey baby, how about a late drink?' I know I saw him getting a knife ready in his pocket. So I didn't wait to let him make a move, just went right for my pepper spray. I got him right in the face and he started screaming and trying to scrape at his eyes, and I was about to run for it when somebody else came running out of the building the automotive school used….I thought it was a back-up guy who was helping the one I just maced, but it wasn't, was it?" Kelly said and smiled gently over at Paige as she adjusted her glasses.

Paige laughed loud enough at the remark for people two rows of tables away to look over at them in annoyance. Ben glared right back at them, but Liss shook her head gently and he turned back to hear the rest of their story.

"No, it was a gallant savior who ran out and hit that guy on the shoulder with a wrench!" Paige explained with a grin. "He got out of there as fast he could, and he was cussing and bumping into things the whole way!

She stopped telling the story to laugh at the memory, throwing her head back and leaning her chair on its rear legs. Kelly tried to keep her composure but after a second of watching Paige she couldn't help cracking a smile too.

As they laughed, Rexia glanced over her shoulder at a small but sudden feeling of unease, a flicker of power waiting to be unleashed. It wasn't malicious like the stronger of the Mythos, instead it was faint and curious. As soon as she looked backward the bell over the door jangled and the door slammed a second later.

Liss leaned back a little in her chair to see what she was looking at. "Somebody back there?" she whispered.

"No, it's nothing," Rexia replied. She turned back to Kelly and Paige, who were looking at her curiously too. "Sorry, I was distracted by the bell. You were saying? That Liss's sister came to your rescue and that was how you fell in love?"

Kelly chuckled lightly but shook her head. "That was how we _met_. I wasn't even sure I might be into girls then…"

"Besides, I didn't really save her," Paige added. "She had plenty of time to run away between when she sprayed the guy in the face and I ran up. I think she just wanted to see if I really was crazy enough to hit that guy."

Rexia smirked and folded her hands in front of her. "I see where Liss gets it from, hurling herself into a dangerous situation the way she does."

"Hey!" Ben snapped at her, but Liss put a hand over his.

"Easy," she said. "It wasn't an insult…Go on, I haven't heard this story either."

Paige looked over at Kelly, who sighed softly at the remark. "No, I guess you didn't," Paige admitted.

* * *

From outside and across the street, someone carefully watched from the dark through the front window of the restaurant.

Rexia had been right.

It wasn't an acceptable time to reveal themselves yet. But when Liss Decker saw them, would she be in for a surprise…

* * *

Kelly had to laugh a little as the waitress walked away with their orders and the memories came drifting back again. "Paige walked me home then, and I just went right to my couch and fell asleep as soon as the adrenaline wore off. I didn't think I'd ever see her again, but then she showed up at my door the next morning. I think she slept out there waiting for me."

" _I did not_ ," Paige explained. "She was went inside in such a hurry she left me holding her purse out on the sidewalk. I came back the next day to give it back to her."

"Sure you did, Paige. Sure you did," Kelly smirked.

Ben gave Liss a look with one eyebrow quirked, and all she could do was reply with a faint shrug. She'd never seen Kelly crack a smile when she was around, even before she started getting into fights with _monsters_.

"And I tried to make sure she was okay by asking her out to a movie with some friends of mine," Paige went on.

But Kelly shook her head. "We went out with some of your friends, but we went to most boring school basketball game ever."

"Whatever it was, you made me promise to just hand over our wallets next time somebody ambushed us, for sure," Paige replied, and turned to Liss and her friends to explain. "Doesn't need that kind of excitement in her life, she said."

"Yeah, I kind of got that impression," Liss said and reached for the basket of breadsticks they'd been left.

Kelly sighed. "Liss, maybe I should apologize a bit. I don't have a very strong heart," she explained, and Liss's hand stayed resting on that breadstick, surprised at this declaration. "So if I have to deal with a lot of stress, like monsters showing up in town, it could be…bad. That's the main reason Paige agreed to move.

"It's why I didn't really want you around, I'll admit it. I was afraid you'd do something _really_ crazy when you started skipping school and those other delinquent things you used to do. For a while I was sure you were dealing drugs or something on the side."

Ben gaped at her in disbelief for a second. "Liss would never deal drugs!" he exclaimed, drawing alarmed stares from the nearby tables. Again Liss put her hand over his to quiet him down.

"I don't know if what I was doing was a lot better," Liss admitted after a second. "I was doing punk-ass stuff just to do it."

Rexia cleared her throat to get their attention. "So is _that_ when you fell in love? At this movie? Or this game?"

"What?" Paige asked at the abrupt question, then snickered. "No! We just hung out that night, then Kelly asked me if we could hang out again some other night, and so we hung out then too. We just kind of never stopped after a while…by then I guess it just seemed natural to move in together. She was my friend. She was more than that. She made my whole day spent listening to some big sweaty Hispanic guy yelling at me while I learning how to fix cars just…go away after I got home."

Their hands had slid across the table and laced together so slowly, so naturally, Liss, Ben and Rexia had hardly even noticed until Paige stopped talking and she and Kelly were looking gently into each other's eyes. Liss and her friends exchanged glances, not sure what to say next.

"I almost feel like we shouldn't go now," Kelly muttered.

"Then you don't have to, do you?" Rexia asked, looking over at Liss as she did.

"Yeah, we kind of do," Paige answered. "I signed on a new place in Rittersburg. All that's left to do is be there this weekend to hand over the paperwork."

Liss looked down at her hands for a second and nodded. "I see…I hope you have the best of luck out there."

"Thanks, Liss," Paige said, and after a second she realized Kelly had said it at the same time.

"Uh, you're welcome…"

Suddenly Rexia tapped Liss on the shoulder and whispered to her. "There it is again…someone's staring at us through the window." Liss turned her head slightly and could indeed see a hunched, shadowy figure peeking in through the front window. A second later they ran away at breakneck speed.

"Wait here!" Liss said, then dashed up to the front door and after the one who'd been spying on them. Rexia was right behind her, and Ben right behind her next. Liss flung the door wide and the three charged down the street.

"I'm still not going to miss that," Kelly mumbled.

* * *

Even in the dark Liss could see whoever it was running away from them, a faint glow around them from their power registering in her fake eye.

"HOLD IT!" Liss cried. "I bet you know what I can do if I have to!"

Suddenly the figure turned and erupted with a burst of blue light, growing half a foot taller and with rough spikes forming along their forehead and arms, and wielding a long metal staff with a glowing gem on one end.

"Wait, it's me!" they called as Liss was raising the Empress Card. She stopped short as she recognized the voice.

"Virginia?!"

She stepped closer and saw that the one they'd been chasing down didn't look like a Mythos, with the blue and purple rough though it was, and a long black staff covered in gems. "You're a Rider now?" Liss asked, astonished.

"Yeah!" she answered. "Remember when that crystal from the Warlock hit me? Now I can change just like you guys can!"

" _Another_ Rider?" Ben muttered.

"Another _asset_ ," Rexia nodded, sounding strangely distant. "It sounds like this is turning out to be an even better night for you, Liss."

Virginia nodded excitedly. "I even beat a bunch of Mythos all by myself!...Mostly."

Liss stepped up and inspected Virginia more closely, who went completely still under the eyes of her idol. "That's pretty awesome, Virginia," Liss said. "Why were you spying on us, though? Why didn't you just come in and talk to us?"

"Because, um…because…because you were in there with your big sister and two of your Rider friends!" Virginia stammered. "I couldn't really go in there…I'm just a newbie and you guys have been fighting the Mythos forever."

"That's why?" Rexia asked. "How amusing."

Virginia's armor faded leaving a flustered teen in the Rider's place. Liss looked away for a second, then back at Virginia. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at Liss.

"I don't know," Liss answered. "Still kind of getting used to hearing that kind of stuff about me."

"You might want to get better at it," Rexia advised her. "Big things could depend on it soon."

Ben cleared his throat. "So, you're a Rider now, huh?" Virginia nodded in reply. "What do we call you?"

"Gin!" Virginia replied immediately.

"Kamen Rider Gin?"

"No! That's…I mean, that's the name I gave myself. I don't want to be 'Virginia' anymore. It makes me sounds like some kind of girl who wears sweaters all the time and learns how to sew!"

Liss chortled to herself, "Oh god, that sounds familiar…Since your powers came from a wizard—"

"Isn't that one taken, Liss?" Ben cut in.

But she cut him off with a sharp look. " _Like I was going to say_ , what about 'Magus'?"

"Magus?" Ben and Virginia asked at the same time.

Giving the two of them a disbelieving look, Liss scoffed, "Oh come on, it's like the name of a coven of wizards, I think?"

Rexia snorted lightly with amusement, and Ben followed a second later. "Learned that when you were still reading Lovecraft, I bet."

Virginia looked at her with awe. "Is that how you got like that?"

" _How does the name sound_ , Gin?" Liss replied, trying to forcefully steer the conversation away from her goth phase, though Ben and Rexia chuckled at her even with the annoyed glare she gave them.

Virginia, or Gin, actually squealed in delight. "It sounds **awesome**! Oh my god…am I about to faint?"

Something seemed to hum inside Liss's duster before she could respond, and she pulled out her handful of Form Cards, the original four quivering lightly in her hand again. She held them out to the curious Gin, and they hummed even more urgently. "So I'm supposed to give these to you…?"

"You're giving me your cards?!" Gin gaped, and swooned. Liss gasped and caught her then gently lowered Gin into a sitting position.

"Maybe not right now, though," she said quietly and put the cards away again.

Good god, was this really how some people thought of her after becoming what she had, on a mission to prove her strength just to herself? She had proved it, and supposed having to join with others in this struggle was a result she should've expected.

Liss looked back down the street toward Mario's, where Paige and Kelly were leaning out the doorway to see what was going on. "It's okay, guys!" she called and waved a slow wave.

Soon, her sister was going to move away, to live her own life and leave Liss to hers. But now, she thought she could handle it. She was supposed to be the people's hero now.

She had to be.

A reassured smile formed on her face after a minute. She _would_ be.

 **End Book Six**

* * *

Next time on Kamen Rider Tarock, Re-Dealt…

Ivan Tawanovitch: The time has come to act, my brothers.

(He walks through a dimly-lit subterranean laboratory between tubes holding shadowy human figures)

Liss: I guess this is passing the torch…kind of?

(Magus holds the card of Swords up to her staff and a glistening blade replaces the gem on the end)

Gin: I could never replace you! Even with your old powers!

Liss: I think you might get the chance to find out…

(Ivan explodes into a blue and white-skinned squid-like monster, surrounded by clones of his human self)

Narrator: Your fate is in your hands.

* * *

 **Bit of a breather chapter, and trying to give a little depth to a couple characters who I found myself ignoring more than I meant to as the narrative picked up. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you've enjoyed. Before I actually start up the next book, though, going to send Liss on a side adventure where she might meet a few famous heroes. Hope you'll look forward to it.**


End file.
